


The Dragon Thief

by BNLe



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Action/Adventure, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Jealousy, Masks, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Revenge, Romance, Shameless Smut, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:24:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 44,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12991848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BNLe/pseuds/BNLe
Summary: Safina has given up her title as dragonborn, for five years she's lived a quiet life, but quiet isn't the way she wants to live anymore. she seeks adventure in Riften and may get more than she bargained for in the Thieves Guild





	1. Safina's new life

Safina stood, staring at the tall, stone wall in front of her. She listened intently to the sounds of the horses in the stables to her right and the low grumblings of the man who worked through their tough fur. Her gaze was brought to the wooden gate where two guards stood, one was larger probably a male, the other smaller and lighter in stature but still taller than herself. The nords of skyrim were big people, she knew her father had been a nord, but she had never met him, her mother, though, was a wood elf. It was frowned upon to have mixed blood of man and mer. Dragonborn or no people used to give her strange looks, until she put on her mask. That was five years ago now and to the people of skyrim the dragonborn was dead.  
Her thoughts were brought back to the present when she noticed the larger of the guards eyeing her, she re-situated her cloak keeping her visage hidden and trotted up confidently to the gate.  
“halt, if you wish to enter the city you have to pay the fee” the guard's voice had been slow as if he was trying to piece together the words for the first time and she sighed ‘riften’ she tilted her head to one side and her soft slightly accented voice broke effortlessly through her mask. “fee? What fee?” the guard stood up straighter as if growing confidence from her unease.  
“visitors fee” he stated matter-of-factly, at this point she grew irritated and rested her hand obviously onto the hilt of her beloved dragonbone dagger. She glared at the guard through narrowed eyes, “look I know you're trying to do your job, but this is obviously a shakedown, so unless you want to lose your job and your tongue I suggest you let me pass” after she had spoken the words with an air of command the guard shifted uneasily then straightened, moving to let her pass.  
“right well, in you go miss, good day” she shook her head at his arrogance and passed through the gate to immediately be encountered by a rather large, bear of a man.  
“you in riften looking for trouble?” he had asked with a hint of a threatening tone in his deep husky voice and she had groaned internally, ‘why is everyone here so insistent on getting in my business’. She shrugged harmlessly and he eyed her carefully, “just passing through, you'll get no trouble from me” not wanting to continue the conversation with Maul she sauntered off hearing him mutter something to himself and she shook her head. For being a city of crime riften was a rather beautiful place and she stopped for a moment to enjoy the scenery, then watch the locals to find their routines so she could get to work. Her attention was drawn to a young woman, likely the daughter of a noble as she walked past she bumped into her gently taking her coin purse and placing it in her pack, then nodded an apology to the woman who just ‘hmphed’ in response. As the young woman trudged off she smiled to herself thinking of how much coin was in that purse.  
Brynjolf had been leaning on his stall in the market searching the usual crowd for possible recruits, he had a job that needed to be done, but he was too well known within riften. His attention was drawn to what appeared to be a woman by the stature, she was slightly smaller than normal female nords and had less of a bulky frame, more of a light feminine one which he realized must mean she was of elven descent. He could only see her frame, she wore a cloak and a mask to cover her features, ‘strange’ he thought ‘ah, but who am I to judge’ he shook the thoughts away as his gaze was drawn to her large chest. Although her cloak covered most of her, he saw that she wore some kind of leather armor, but it was unlike any he'd ever seen, it looked more like soft scale. Covering her boots and pauldrons were large dragon scales, he realized then it must have been leather made from dragon hide. ‘likes to be a mystery and can afford luxury armor…. Unless she stole it’ he smirked to himself then watched as she bumped into Ingun Black-briar, she made a slight movement, that if he wasn't a skilled thief he would've missed, she snatched the coin purse from Inguns side taking it for herself then continued her way towards the market. He smiled then, knowing exactly what to do, as she was about to walk passed him he spoke up, “haven't done an honest day's work in your life, from all that coin you're carrying eh, lass?” he gestured to her recently stolen coin purse and she shifted, trying to hide it.  
“excuse me, but I'm sure my wealth is of no concern to you” she spoke with a voice that was soft like silk, yet had an air of command to it, like in a previous life she had been a noble, and maybe she had. He gave her a crooked smirk, “Oh but that's where you're wrong, lass, wealth is my business, and I could give you a taste if you're interested” beneath her cloak he saw a shadowed brow quirk and his smirk turned into a crooked smile.  
“I'm listening” she stated flatly. He leaned once again into his stall and crossed his arms over his chest. “Well you see, lass I need you to get something for me” he paused and pointed to madesi’s stall, “Below that stall is a lockbox and in it is a ring, I need you to get the ring and place it on the dark-elf named Brand-Shei” she nodded and walked off before he could explain the rest, feeling rushed he abruptly started his speech about the “falmer blood elixir” but he payed more attention to the lass. Panic set in when he realized he couldn't see her anywhere, ‘had she gotten pinched?’ he searched, after a few minutes and halfway through his speech he caught her leaning against the stall across him, she nodded to him and he straightened quickly finishing the speech and hearing some of the people mumble their complaints about him. As she strolled towards him he couldn't help but notice the way her hips swayed with each step, he was startled when the guards approached Brand-Shei. Then all at once remembered the scheme, as she approached he muttered to her, “Well done, lass, with all that's been going on lately I'm surprised the plan went off without a hitch” she just nodded and looked towards the newly refurbished orphanage hall, confused, his brows furrowed, “thinking about adopting, lass?” she turned back to him as if in a daze and he wondered what had went through her mind. ‘had she once lived there, did she have a sibling there… or perhaps a child?’ the last thought disturbed him but her voice dissipated those thoughts. “hmmm, no I was just thinking, the last time I was here it looked… so much worse” he nodded and realized she probably just cared for the youth there. “yeah and it used to be worse for the children, old hag named Grelod used to run the place, she was killed about 6 or 7 years ago though. They say a dark brotherhood recruit killed her. After she died the dragonborn came here looking for some old guy, I actually met her, tried to recruit her but she seemed… busy, she went to honorhall first though, donated a large sum of money to expand the place so they could take in the orphans from the other holds” she stiffened at his mention of the dragonborn and he wondered if she had met her as well, probably had a worse experience than he had by her reaction. Before she could respond he continued “if you're wanting to see what we're all about lass, meet me in the ragged flagon, ‘neath the city” with that he walked off to the secret entrance by the graveyard leaving her to navigate the ratway on her own. Safina completely forgot that she had met Brynjolf before and even stiffened when she heard her old title being said out loud, which she was sure he noticed. In that moment she was glad for the mask, otherwise he would have seen the blush start at her cheeks and rise hot to her ears. She sighed when she thought of going through the ratway once again and no doubt they had since replaced the old, dead, goons with new ones. As she trudged down the steps to the entrance of the ratway she crouched down unsheathing her dagger, preparing for whatever and whoever was lying in wait for her.  
As she approached the door to the ragged flagon she sheathed her dagger and stood, brushing the dirt from her dragon leather armor. She took a deep breath and slowly pushed the door to the underground tavern open. It hadn't changed much since the first and only time she had been there, it still looked run down, there were empty wine bottles littering the floor. Stacks of hay took the alcoves inside, along with broken and damaged crates. There were cobwebs… everywhere, but the smell wasn't as bad as she had remembered, all in all it looked… sad. As she approached the bar she heard the tail end of a conversation that might have been about her.  
“Give it up, Brynjolf... those days are over.” the man behind the bar was the first she heard, talking to Brynjolf.  
“I'm telling you, this one is different…” Brynjolf sounded determined to get the men next to him to have faith in her and in him, it made her cheeks blush.  
“We've all heard that one before, Bryn! Quit kidding yourself.” She knew that man his name was Dirge, Maul’s brother.  
“It's time to face the truth, old friend. You, Vex, Mercer... you're all part of a dying breed. Things are changing!” the man behind the counter spoke again, but Brynjolf must've heard her coming because he turned to face her, his crooked smile showing his triumph.  
“Dying breed, eh? Well what do you call that then” Brynjolf slowly approached her at the very end of the bar and she was aware of all the eyes on her. There was a shorter imperial women with the lightest hair she had ever seen, it almost glowed. A bald Breton man sat across from her, often eyeing the imperial woman when she wasn't looking, there was a look of adoration in his brown eyes that made her smile warmly. "Well, well... Color me impressed lass. I wasn't certain I'd ever see you again” Brynjolf's voice broke into her thoughts and she almost had to shake her head to focus on him again but she wished she hadn't. He wasn't in his apparently stolen noble clothes anymore, now he adorned a suit of black leather armor not unlike everyone else's in the tavern, with buckles and pockets and more dagger sheaths than she had ever seen. The armor clung to his form and she couldn't help but take in the way his muscles on his arms bulged when he crossed them on his chest, or the way his wide chest gave way to broad shoulders. She bit her lip thankful for her mask and looked to his face, taking in all of the little details for the first time. He had barely a shadow of dark auburn stubble surrounding his strong jaw, a soft scar graced his left cheek and for a moment she wondered how he got it. She looked up to his eyes to see the most vibrant emerald orbs looking back at her through dark lashes, she couldn't help but stare in awe at the way his eyes seemed to flame with deep green intensity, she noticed little flecks of hazel in them as well. To her horror she realized that the red-headed nord noticed her staring and a crooked smile parted his thick, soft lips that made her breath catch. She immediately felt guilty and cleared her throat, “Yes well, aside from the few skeevers that sniffed me out and met a quick death, your guards are very poor at their jobs. They should be fired.” He chuckled a bit at that and it was sound that made her heart race, ‘no, no stop it. You CANNOT be feeling like this not since Vilkas..’ She tried telling herself, but matters of the head and matters of the heart are on different planes of oblivion.  
“reliable and headstrong? You're turning out to be quite the prize lass” her thoughts of attraction were immediately quelled at the mention of being referred to as a “prize”. She frowned and straightened herself, “Am I good enough for your guild then?” she said it with a hint of venom that he didn't seem to catch because his smile just grew.  
“Not quite yet lass, there's still one more thing I need you to do for me”. She figured that would be the case and muttered, “Of course you do” she hadn't meant for him to hear, but the smile faded into a look of contempt.  
“I have a debt I need you to collect, well three actually. Haelga, at Haelga’s bunkhouse, Bersi Honey-hand at the Pawned Prawn, and Keerava at the Bee and Barb. I don't want to hear about any killings either lass, that isn't our way around here”. With that he dismissed her and she begrudgingly left the ragged flagon to collect her debts.

Brynjolf watched as she left, he rather did enjoy the swaying of her hips, although he would never admit it. He thought about the way she had stared at him at her first glance of him in his armor and a chuckle escaped his lips, it wasn't the first time he had been looked at like that from a woman, nor would it be the last. Women came as easily to him as anything else he could steal, he knew it was due in part to his looks as well as his strange accent and at times he enjoyed it. He had no such plans of bedding for this lass, however, not after Eir. He could still remember her, her rich chestnut hair, turned dull gray and her bright hazel eyes he had once loved glossed over as he cradled her broken limp body. He had made a vow that fateful day never to let matters of the heart take control over him again, he couldn't handle losing someone else he cared for so deeply. He felt a lump in his throat and his eyes burned, betraying him as tears threatened to spill over.  
“You're thinking about her again, ain’t ya, Bryn?” he swallowed his burning feelings and looked up to see Delvin with a sympathetic look in his eye. It bothered him how after her death everyone in the guild felt the need to patronize him and choose their words carefully to avoid “hurting his feelings”. It had been over eight years, he had come to terms with her death now. He faked a smile at Delvin, “Nah, Del I'm fine” Delvin flashed a look as if to say ‘I know when you're lying Bryn’ and he sighed, he WAS lying. “It's just, there's something about this lass, something that feels familiar and God's, Del, I don't know what it is”. He angrily tousled his hand through his matted hair, realizing he needed a bath and soon. Del’s sympathetic look vanished and he chuckled, pointing over to Vex, “Bryn, do you know how long I've been trying to get Vex to even take the time of day to give me a chance”. Delvin’s question didn't merit a response, but he was feeling cheeky, “longer than I've been alive Del” the Breton elbowed him lightly causing him to huff and started to walk off, briefly glancing over his shoulder to finish. “All it took was the divine’s grace and the right moment”. He remembered that day, it was only a few weeks ago, Vex had been attempting the goldenglow job, being the best infiltrator they had, they figured it would be easy for her. Aringoth, the slime, had hired mercenaries, Vex barely made it back with her life. After she collapsed inside the cistern broken and injured Delvin had been the first at her side, he stayed with her until she was better, doing everything he could to help out. He thought at that point she realized the extent of his feelings and pursued a path they would never stray from again. He smiled briefly thinking of how much the two of them belonged together and caught a glimpse of them saying sweet nothing's to each other in one of the alcoves. Before he could stand from his table he heard a light ‘thud’ followed by the soft jingle of coins, looking to the table he saw three coin purses laid out for him and the lass stood before him, accomplishment exuding from her body. She crossed her arms over her chest, accentuating the shape of her breasts and he almost let himself stare but thought better of it. “now then, I've collected all of your debts, which, just so you no was no easy task seeing as everyone here has a giant stick up their arse.” She seemed to be going nowhere fast with her story and he cut her off knowing what she was about to ask.  
“well done lass and with no blood, too. Before you ask, no I cannot tell you if you're in or not. If you follow me I can take you to meet who is” he walked to the back of the flagon and to the cabinet. Opening the secret back passage he made his way to the cistern, where Mercer stood over his desk looking as stoic and brooding as ever. He caught a glimpse of the lass and saw her taking in all the surroundings, he looked to her eyes and was sure he caught a glimpse of blue, or maybe a chocolate brown, he couldn't tell but it made his curiosity about her pique. He cleared his throat, “Mercer, this is the one I was telling you about” he didn't have time to finish what he was about to say he saw Mercer look up at her then up and down the length of her body with interest, a slight feeling of unease crept into him, but he shook it off.  
“excuse me, Mercer, but if you think you will get anything out of me other than strict business, you're wrong”. He almost gasped at her statement, yet he admired the way she made his name sound like an insult. Mercer narrowed his eyes at her and approached the both of them. He circled her, this time looking at her with curiosity, “so Brynjolf tells me you could be of some use to us” she made a noise as if she was about to say something, but Mercer continued, ignoring her. “although I don't much care for your disrespect or your tone, since Brynjolf assures me you'll be nothing but an asset to us then I have a SPECIAL job for you”. Brynjolf's unease crashed over him again in waves as he realized what he was implying and took a step between him and the lass. “Mercer, you couldn't possibly be talking about goldenglow, Vex barely made it out of there alive and she's our best infiltrator” Mercer shot a glare at him then turned back to the lass. “then this will be the perfect test for your prodigy” they both looked to the lass and without hesitation she confidently and coldly said, “I'll do it” Mercer just ‘humphed’ and turned to leave but he interjected, “Mercer, aren't you forgetting something” he stopped and turned back to them looking as if he was thinking for a moment. “hmm, oh yes, welcome to the guild ‘lass’”. Brynjolf almost flinched at the last remark he made, instead he turned to the lass, not at all wanting her to do this job. He knew it would just be suicide, especially to someone who wasn't trained, no matter how natural they were with this. “lass, if there's anything you want to know about this job feel free to ask”. She nodded and stood for a moment before turning, he couldn't stop himself from grabbing her arm softly to pull her back to him. “wait lass, before you go, I want to see how good you are at combat. I already know you're good with lockpicks, pickpocketing and sneaking. But I need to know you won't get killed on this job” he didn't want to sound desperate, but this really was a dangerous job and he needed to know she would come back. Why, though, he wasn't really sure. Safina sighed at the thought of another nord man training her to see if she was adequate. The last man to do that was Vilkas, immediately she regretted thinking his name as waves of grief and guilt and regret washed over her.  
“Everything alright, lass?” she heard Brynjolf’s deep scottish brogue break into her thoughts and she realized at that moment that she was standing in the training room that she had seen earlier, there were chests scattered around the room and archery targets sat behind those, along with hay-filled dummies for hand-to-hand training. She turned her attention towards him to see his emerald eyes filled with concern, “Yeah, Brynjolf, I’m fine. Just thinking about other things”. His concern faded and he smirked looking to the hilt of his dagger, then to hers, she didn't give it much thought until he lunged at her, weapon drawn. With wide eyes it had been a reflex to take out her own dagger, deflecting his blow against her. After she had done that she looked across from her to see Brynjolf in an offensive stance, his eyes were narrowed at her, his dagger still aimed at her throat, but hers still deflecting it. He shot her a wink which caused her to lose focus for only a moment as Brynjolf gathered himself, quickly moving to her side and slashing at her yet again. She jumped out of the way, barely dodging his assault, when she turned back to face him she held it high up in a defensive position the burning in her eyes evident of her challenge, if only he could see them. He lashed out for her again, this time she was prepared, she stepped to the side quickly avoiding his well appointed slash. On her counter-attack she flipped her dagger into an offensive grip, careful to not cut herself, and slashed lightly, just at the fabric of Brynjolf’s armor on the right side of his ribcage. He stumbled forwards a few steps, not intending for her to be quicker than he was and quickly inspected the gash at his armor, sending her a look of mischievousness and pride. She smirked under her mask and set her stance up once more when he slashed at her again, this time he nicked her arm and blood welled at the small cut. After glancing at it and wincing, she glared at him behind her cloak and let out a small battlecry as she lunged for him. He had obviously not been expecting her, or her barrage of dagger thrusts, as the shock in his eyes apparently showed. She didn't let up on her attacks and she could see how well he was at hand-to-hand combat, he had been trained very well. But she had been dancing with danger ever since she could remember and she had strength where he did not. After a few moments of her unwielding barrage of strikes his defense was shaken, he was growing tired, with a last blow she sent the dagger soaring to the other end of the room and placed the blade on his throat. She was breathing heavily, almost panting, she hadn't fought like that in a long time and honestly she liked it, it made her feel alive and powerful. Brynjolf, breathing as heavily as she had been, placed his hand on her dagger, lowering it. “Easy now lass, I’d like to keep my throat if you don't mind. You did well” she couldn't help but notice the pride in his voice and she knew perfectly well why. His job, his reputation, was riding on her. If she looked good, he looked good, and damn did she look good.

Safina swam through Lake Honrik remembering Vex’s words still ringing in her ear. “There’s a sewer tunnel under the property, it's what I used to get out”. As she swam she planned the whole heist in her head, determined to get this done and over with as quickly and with as little blood shed as she could. It had been two weeks since she joined the Thieves Guild, she would have gone to Goldenglow sooner, but Brynjolf had insisted she do a few odd jobs, just to get a hang of things first. She didn't mind it really, and she had gotten to know the others in the Guild as well. She quickly made a tight friendship with Vex and Sapphire, she liked Rune too he was young but he was cute, almost innocent, even if he was a thief. Delvin had probably gotten the closest to her, becoming somewhat of a father figure to her and telling her stories of Brynjolf when he was a new recruit. She rather enjoyed that, the feeling of having a family again, she would even catch Brynjolf watching her from across the flagon from time to time, when she was either listening to, or telling her own stories. She told them as much as she could without giving up who she was, how she had grown up in valenwood with her mother, how she traveled to Skyrim searching for her father after her mother died and how after she had crossed the border she was ambushed by imperials and taken to helgen before the dragon attacked. They had all gotten wide eyes and listened intently after that, asking her more questions then she would ever answer including if she ever met the dragonborn she didn't want to answer that, not really, it made her feel guilty for keeping this from her new family. Instead she just nodded and changed her story to how she had come to riften after all those years wondering, searching for her father, but getting none of the answers she seeked. Delvin and Vex had then offered to help her in her search using all of their contacts to their disposal. Her mind was brought back to the present when she saw a rocky outcrop looming ahead of her, it was in the middle of the night and the moons were thankfully covered by clouds. Hopping the fence the overshadowed the hives she readied a flame spell, keeping note of the entrance to the sewer tunnels, knowing she would need to get there fast as the fire would alert the mercenaries that weren't sleeping and they would wake up the rest. Burning three of the hives had been the easy part and a part of her wished the rest would be that easy, but she was no fool. As she quickly, stealthily, jumped to the entrance she could hear the mercenaries yelling out to the others and scrambling to find her. It made her smile to herself, in a way she loved doing these jobs, going in un-detected, doing what you had to do, then just sitting back watching the rest of it work its way through knowing no one would ever know who it was. Once she was inside the sewers she crinkled her nose at the smell, but kept low knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt there would be skeevers lurking. ‘There’s always those damn skeevers lurking’ she thought to herself, she really hated them and as if her thoughts had come alive she rounded a corner to see one propped up on its hind legs sniffing the air, no doubt trying to find her. Disgusted, she brought her dagger up and slowly approached the skeever from behind, driving her dagger into its neck then quickly pulling it back out. It made a hideous squealing noise as they always did and Safina cautiously stepped over the rapidly growing pool of blood, further into the tunnels. After killing bout five more skeevers and being on the receiving end of a few painful bites to her forearms she had reached the end of the tunnel and climbed out. She was thankful for the clean air and lack of skeevers, taking in a deep breath of cold air, she noticed that she was behind the estate and took out a few lockpicks. As she was trying to pick the lock to the back door she was painfully aware of the outside mercenaries still out there and had half a mind to take them out one by one with her bow. Once the lock finally gave in to her she was finally inside the house, quickly shutting it behind her and focusing on the lighter surroundings around her she heard the nearby laugh of a few mercenaries and crept along fully alert. She guessed that if not all then most of them were gathered around a few tables drinking and playing some kind of card game, ‘some guards you are’ she almost scoffed to herself before realizing what a terrible mistake that would be and snuck past them easily. The whole house was basically void of all life aside from the mercenaries playing and another she encountered sleeping further inside the house. As she reached the end of the last hallway she saw a guard standing in front of a ladder going to the upper level of the estate. ‘That must be where the key to the safe is’ she waited quietly in the shadows for the mercenary to move elsewhere, thankful for her guild armor and new hood that was much quieter than her dragon armor. As soon as he left the ladder she climbed up going through the door to the top level, to immediately find a mercenary in front of her. He had his back to her and she saw no other mercenary around and took that opportunity, standing at full height she got up right to his back and held her hand over his mouth as the other used the dagger to slit his throat. She held onto his body gently laying him onto the floor to avoid a ‘thud’ that might alert others to her presence. Sneaking past the rest of the guards had been easy enough until she came to what she could only assume was Aringoth’s room as it had a rather brutish looking nord guarding the door. Seeing as there was no way to sneak past him or take him out without alerting the others she stood in wait until once again opportunity struck and he had walked back down the hall towards where the other mercenaries were gathered. She quickly passed through the door listening to her own heartbeat pounding against her chest she leaned against the door letting it slow. Once she was gathered she looked around the large room to see Aringoth asleep on his bed, smiling she crept to him, easily swiping the key from his pocket, she had turned to leave but something gold glinted in the corner of her eye on the night table. As she looked at it she saw that it was a small, golden bee statue, ‘odd’ she thought but did not question it more as she took it from the small wooden table carefully placing it into the small bag at her hip as to not make a noise. When she got back to the door she cracked it open only a small bit and peeked out, to her relief the large nord was still gone, quickly she raced out of the door and down to the ladder slipping down it as light as she could she opened the metal door leading down to where the safe was and she was glad for the limited amount of mercenaries there. Breaking open the safe had been easy enough and she was surprised to find a bill of sale inside, but had little time to inspect as she heard a loud “hey!” interrupt her. Stuffing the bill into her pocket she ran for the small trapdoor leading down to the sewer once more, but not before she heard an arrow flying through the air accompanied by the searing pain of torn flesh at her left shoulder.

 

Brynjolf was worried, she usually got jobs done much faster than this, granted it was Goldenglow and even Vex barely made it out of there. But she was good, better than any he had ever seen, perhaps even better than Mercer himself. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of the secret entrance being opened and the lass practically falling down the ladder to the cistern. He rushed to her to see an arrow protruding through her left shoulder, he knelt down beside her and cradled her in his arms, “I’m sorry about the armor Brynjolf”. He wanted to laugh at how she had an arrow in her arm yet she was apologizing, but he was too worried for her. “God’s lass, you have an arrow in your shoulder and your apologizing about the damn armor” he tousled his free hand through his hair and called out for help for anyone who was around, yet his voice shook as he thought of what could happen to her. Delvin rushed in followed closely by Vex and they both gasped, “get me a healer, NOW!” Vex had winced at his tone but quickly left the cistern to find a priestess. Delvin knelt down beside him, “Bryn you're going to have to take off the hood so we can see if shes ok” he didn't say anything but he nodded as he carefully yanked it down revealing honey colored hair that was tied in a loose braid to her right side. But it was her eyes that left him breathless, she was breathing heavily and her eyelids threatened to cover them, but he managed to catch a glimpse. The one on the right side had been a deep chocolate/amber in color the edge of the iris was ringed with a deeper brown, her left eye was a deep crystal blue, not a sky blue like most nords, no hers were darker like deep blue sapphires, flecks of a lighter steel blue exploded around her pupil. Surrounding her intoxicating eyes were long dark lashes that threatened to suck all of the air out of him, sadly her mask covered the rest, but he so vitaly had to see the rest of her beauty. suddenly he was brought back to the present when he noticed a new voice calling to him, “Brynjolf, you need to get her onto a bed so I can get that arrow out to properly heal her”. He nodded his head, focusing on the bleeding wound on her shoulder and quickly lifted her, he was surprised by how light she was and settled her onto his bed in the cistern. The priestess leaned over the lass quickly working to remove the arrow, he winced when he heard her cry out in pain then sighed in relief as the priestess handed the bloody arrow to Vex who was right next to the lass. Brynjolf suddenly felt his body go rigid and anger boiled deep inside of him, he was going to kill whoever did this to her. When the priestess turned to him he calmed himself and waited nervously for her to speak. “She will be alright, but she will need to rest for a while. She may also need someone to talk to getting a wound like that leaves more than physical scars” he nodded gratefully to the older woman, and took a seat by his bed waiting for the lass to wake.


	2. Old and new collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safina and Brynjolf travel to Whiterun, but what's waiting for them is more than just a job

Safina woke with a start, then winced, her body was stiff and a numbing pain went through her shoulder, down her arm. “God’s damn it” she cursed, a bit more resounding than she had meant it to be. She heard a groan to her left and turned to see a sleeping Brynjolf in a chair, stirring awake. “You’re finally up lass, how are you feeling?”, his eyes were half closed as if he were still asleep, but he gave her a bright smile and she put her weight on her elbows in an attempt to sit up. The fur blanket over her fell, revealing her top half almost naked except for the breast cover she always wore, she heard Brynjolf clear his throat and when she looked at him he quickly looked away. “They had to take off your cuirass in order to get to the arrow, I swear lass, I didn't see anything.. Though I wish I did”. She guessed he had said the last part with no intention of her hearing it, but she did and she gave him a light slap then winced as the pain shot through her shoulder. He offered an apologetic smile, but she was more concerned with why her arm still hurt so bad. She looked at her stiff shoulder to see a rather malicious looking red scar where the arrow used to be, she lightly grazed the fingers of her right hand over it. It was tender and different parts of it were raised, where she had been cut to better get the tip of the arrow out of her torn flesh. She frowned and quickly came to comprehend that her hood was missing, her honey colored braid was still hanging over her right shoulder coming to an end by her mid torso. Her hands quickly shot up to her mask and to her relief it had remained on her face, when she glanced to Brynjolf who was now standing and took a long stretch, she noticed that his stubble had grown just a bit longer. “How.. how long have I been asleep?”, she wasn't sure if she really wanted to know the answer and at the look on his face he didn't want to tell her. “Er, yes well, it's been a few days, we tried to send someone else into Goldenglow to get the information, but Aringoth and his men were gone” she furrowed her brows in confusion then all at once remembered the crumpled up paper in her pocket. Her hand darted into her pocket to grab the paper and she quickly gave it to Brynjolf who stared in confusion for a bit, then unfolded it to read the paper. His look quickly grew from one of annoyance to anger, “That elf sold Goldenglow? What was that fool thinking?... Mercer is not going to be happy”. As Brynjolf walked over to Mercer’s desk she watched intently, unable to hear what they were saying, but by the looks on both of their faces neither one of them were happy that Goldenglow was sold. After they were done talking she watched as Mercer stormed off towards the secret entrance with the bill of sale in his hand. She got out of Brynjolf's bed slowly, being careful not to upset her wounded shoulder, the mer blood inside of her had made it easy for her to call upon magicka and when she had joined the college of Winterhold it had made her spells much more powerful. She sighed, not wanting to dwell in her past for long and summoned a healing spell to her palms. As she felt the spell course through her still tender muscles and stiff bones, she could feel the pain and throbbing ebb away. She sighed once her shoulder was back to normal and moved her arm a bit to inspect, the scar was now a light pink, stark in contrast to her freckled, sun-kissed skin. She was thankful that Brynjolf kept one of her blouses on his night table and slipped it over her head. “Mercer has gone to speak with Maven, he isn't happy that Aringoth sold Goldenglow, but I couldn't help but notice the hint of respect in his eyes when I told him YOU had gotten what nobody else could” she smiled and turned back to him, it was at times like these she had wished that she could let him in. Let him know who she was and not keep this a secret from her new family anymore, a wave of guilt coursed through her when she thought about all she was hiding from them, from Brynjolf. “Yeah , well I don't think Vex will be very happy about that, being ‘the Guild’s best infiltrator’ and all”, he chuckled at her well appointed imitation and gestured for her to follow him, “Nah, I think she will be alright lass, after all you two have become thick as thieves as of late”. She smacked him again and gave a short laugh at his reference. He feigned a painful wince and laughed back. This is what she had been wanting, missing, for all these years, a place where she belonged, where she felt safe and at home. As they made their way to the flagon, she couldn't help but notice all the smiling faces shining at her. Delvin and Vex had been the first to approach her, “Glad you’re alright love, wouldn't be the same ‘round her without ya”, she smiled at Delvin as he lightly patted her shoulder and looked over to Vex who was nodding her head in agreement. “Even though I still think I’M the best infiltrator this rat-hole of a Guild’s got, you did pretty good out there kid”, she leaned in to give Vex a hug who stiffened at first and was about to lament her indifference to the embrace, but she quickly melted into it and hugged Safina back.

Brynjolf enjoyed the way the rest of the Guild had welcomed her home with open arms, how she had become a part of the team, a part of their family. For a moment he felt a welling in his chest just thinking about the lass, or ‘his lass’ as some of them had referred to her after Goldenglow. ‘His lass’ he thought ‘if only it could be like that’ he shook the thoughts away when the back door to the flagon opened and Mercer strolled in with his usual air of aloofness. As he approached the lass he saw her body stiffen and couldn't blame her for feeling that way, Mercer was often feared, even among the Guild. There was just something about him that changed after Gallus was killed, he felt of pang of sadness when he thought about the old Guild master, Gallus had been the one to take him in and taught him everything he knew. His thoughts soon faded as he heard Mercer’s authoritative voice ring out over the flagon. “Alright, new blood it seems that Maven has asked for you specifically to do a job for her, don't disappoint” he had stressed the last bit making it very clear what he would do if she did fail them, then turned back to the cistern to go over some leads as he usually did. The lass turned back to him with a worried expression in her eyes, “Did I do something wrong?” he thought about it for a moment and came to the conclusion that if Maven had asked for her personally then she had taken an interest in the Guild again and in her. “No, lass it’s nothing like that, it’s strictly business for Maven so whatever you do, don’t try to be her friend” she just nodded and strolled casually back to the cistern, probably to put her newly-repaired cuirass back on, Tonilia had even thrown an enchantment onto it for the lass’ trouble. After a few tankards of mead and some stories and laughs with the other members, he resentfully trudged into the cistern. Upon entering he jumped when he saw Mercer standing just a few paces in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest. “God’s mercer, do you want me to die of fright?” the man in front of him didn't even smirk, he kept his stoney gaze hard on him. “I want you to go with her on this job, keep an eye on her, she was an asset to you, but now that Maven has taken interest, she’s an asset to us all” he didn't speak any further to him and Brynjolf just nodded. He felt eager to see her in action, to see how she did these jobs so well, he heard the door to the cistern open and saw the lass gracefully climb down the ladder, she turned to him with a smile in her eyes and figured that under her mask was one on her lips. He felt a pang of regret that he couldn't see it, “How did the meeting with Maven go lass?” she just shrugged and kept the friendly look in her eyes. “Eh, it wasn't bad she wants me to do some job in Whiterun, check out how this guy has gotten so successful with his new meadery” Brynjolf raised his eyebrows at that, it seemed that Maven was feeling threatened by a new business and they were going to take them down. “Well it looks like you won't be doing this alone, Mercer wants me to come along with you this time” her gaze was now filled with annoyance and he wondered what he had said to her to trigger that. “So what, because I got shot once you dont think im good enough to do this on my own now?”. He was taken aback by her hostile tone and raised his hands, palms up in surrender, “Easy lass, I don't think you’re not good enough to do this on your own, Mercer just wants me to tag along and see how good you are in the field”. Her look of annoyance melted and he was glad to see her normal self return, he didn't like her hostile look at all and much preferred her as her sweet self. He had been sitting at his chair next to his bed, when he noticed she was staring at him. He cocked his brow when he looked back at her to see a playful look in her eyes, “What is it lass?” the look in her eyes just grew and he couldn't help but smile back at her. “I was just thinking about how much I love this place and having a family again” a look shadowed in her eyes that said she wanted to say more, but if she did he didn't push her on it, instead he thought of something else. “Follow me lass, I have something to show you” as he got up she followed him out through the secret entrance to the graveyard, he leaned down on his knees looking at one of the headstones, then to the sky as he realized it was now nighttime. “Is that someone you knew?” he heard the lass’ soft voice call to him and he glanced over to see her with a sympathetic gaze, not directed at him but at something she was looking at in the distance, he felt grateful for that. He was tired of being looked at like he was some delicate thing. He looked back to the headstone and a wave of grief and guilt overcame him, his chest welled and he felt a lump grow in his throat, a tear graced his right cheek and he felt a small light finger wipe it away. “What happened Brynjolf?” the lass had a light look in her eyes, one that told him he was safe and cared for, he cleared his throat as he tried to get himself together. “When I was just a lad, my parents passed away in a fire, I wasn't home at the time, but if I was I would have been in that fire too. After they passed I moved from place to place, just trying to live, I came here to Riften to scope out the pockets, unfortunately for me the first pocket I picked was Gallus’. He caught me with my literal hand in his pocket, took me into an alley, I thought for sure I was going to get a thrashing. But instead he took me into the Guild and started teaching me, that's where I met Eir. she was beautiful, only a year or so older me and I was just a teenager, so, naturally she captivated me. After a few years we had grown so close we were almost inseparable, but I had made some powerful enemies with marks that weren’t Guild targets. Gallus warned me what my rebellion would lead to, but I didn't listen. The day that I was going to ask Eir to marry me was the worst day of my life. I had received a letter telling me to meet this chief of a bandit camp I had robbed at a nearby cave. When I got there… I found her body, broken and mangled. I was so mad I… I killed everyone there. I brought her back here, gave her a proper burial.” he hung his head as he finished telling her about Eir, he couldn't stop the tears that fell then. He heard her sigh, heavy with sadness. “Safina” she said with a solemn tone and he furrowed his brows up at her, “Excuse me lass?”. He saw tears well up in her eyes and she lifted her hand to her mask taking it off, her facial features were soft like a nords, not at all like any mer he had seen and he realized that she was half nord. Her lips looked soft and plump, her bottom lip had a light golden tint to it like most wood elves, but her top lip was a light pink. Her nose was soft and small, all in all she looked young, yet he already knew she was twenty-two. He didn't have any more time to take in her beauty when her voice broke into his thoughts, “My name is Safina, I lived in Valenwood with my mother until I was eighteen, she died from a sickness the priestess’ couldn't heal. She always told me my father had been a brave nord warrior in the great war and that he came from Skyrim, but he had been taken by the Thalmor before she could tell him she was with child. So I came here to look for him but after I passed into Skyrim I was taken by the imperials to helgen and the rest of it you already know”. She looked down after that and in a spur of a moment he grabbed her tightly and she cried on him softly, “I lost so much Bryn, so much death, so much hurt” he felt his heart sink at the sound of her broken voice, without thinking he kissed her forehead. She looked up at him, a new look was in her eyes that he couldn't pinpoint, “You know it wasn't your fault, what happened to Eir”, he blinked and remembered the job they still needed to get done the next day. A strange thought emerged in his head and he remembered when she said she was conceived during the last years of the great war, “How old are you la… Safina?” she furrowed her brows and scrunched up her little nose, she looked cute and he wanted to chuckle at the obviousness of her thinking face but thought better of it remembering her malicious stare from earlier. “You know what? It's hard to say really I guess in nordic terms I would be thirty one or thirty two, but because I’m also half elf, I look like I'm barely in my twenties” he smiled and she smiled back at him, he really did love her smile, it made him feel things that he had not felt since Eir. “We should probably get some sleep Safina, Mercer wants us on the road to Whiterun at first light”, she stood rigid for a moment at the mention of Whiterun and by the look on her face there was something or someone there that she wasn't looking forward to seeing. Feeling it would be best not to press her, he entered the cistern again to find his bed perfectly clean and sunk into it, welcoming the soft warmth of sleep as he drifted into the void of his dreams. 

Safina sat on her bed in the cistern, she watched as Bryn fell fastly asleep. “How does he fall asleep so fast” she had been kind of jealous of his easy sleep pattern since it usually took her a good hour or two of tossing and turning to finally fall asleep, she hadn't noticed she said it out loud. “It’s probably because he’s thinking about you” she jumped when she heard Sapphire’s voice followed by a giggle, “Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you- hey! You're not wearing your mask” the young breton woman then gasped. “Bryn told you didnt he?” she looked back at Sapphire a little dazed, “Yeah he told me about Eir”. Sapphire sat on the bed next to her, “After what happened to her, he started drinking, he went out late at night, started fights. All the things good men will do when they lose their purpose in life. He wasn't the same after that.. Until you came along” she turned all of her attention to Sapphire, “What do you mean?” the young woman next to her offered a sweet smile. “I mean that you got him to see his purpose again, even if he doesn't know it yet, now go to sleep Mercer will have your head if you're not at Whiterun in time”. Safina couldn't go to sleep not now, after what she had learned, how could she have given him purpose? She certainly didn't mean to, even though by all means she wanted to, he was attractive, caring, honorable and protective, everything a nord man was meant to be. She laid down in the bed, listening to the snoring of everyone else that was in the cistern, eventually lulling her into sleep.

“Hey lass, wake up” she felt a gentle tapping on her arm and could hear Bryn’s deep voice calling her into the realm of the awake. She groaned and rolled over slapping his hand away, “Leave me be, I’m sleeping”. She heard Bryn sigh followed by the whoosh of her blanket being forcefully removed. She curled into a ball at the sudden briskness, “Come on lass, we have a job to do. Don't make me carry you to Whiterun” she shut her eyes tightly and waved him away. “Alright lass, if that's how you want it” she felt big arms grab her and lift her up, he was now holding her bridal style and she let her body go limp causing him to grunt with effort, she barely opened her eyes to glare at him. “Oh, quit being so dramatic I’m not that heavy” he looked at her with a smirk, then acted as if he was carrying a mammoth grunting with each step he took, towards her armor. “Aye lass, I think you've gained some weight since you joined”, she scoffed and slapped his arm jumping down from his grasp. As she grabbed her armor and walked into a private alcove she could hear Brynjolf chuckling in the distance, “Oh yes, laugh it up Bryn, ‘cause you're going to be stuck with me for a few days and I think I know the perfect way to make the time go by faster”. She had said it with a mischievous tone, but couldn't hear Brynjolf anymore. She quickly put on her armor and left the alcove to find him smiling at her, she didn't like what he was doing, even if it was nothing. “What?” she asked him, only the smallest bit concerned. He shrugged and tossed her an apple, “Nothing lass, I just enjoy tormenting you” she ‘hmphed’ at him. “Uh huh, well I hope you are good at riding horses” he stopped walking towards the entrance to the graveyard, but didn't turn to her, “Beg your pardon, lass?”. She couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her, “Well you didn't think we would walk the whole way did you?” she passed him and took off up the ladder, out to Riften making her way as fast as she could to the stables. Once there she checked to make sure that her horse was ready for her, the large white mare was saddled up and had just finished eating her morning oats. Safina slowly approached the mare, stroking her nose softly, “Hi, girl. Did you miss me? I brought a friend” she gestured to Brynjolf who wasn't far behind her and was eyeing the mare cautiously. “Are we both going to be riding it?” he asked, his voice betraying his worry. “God’s no and her name is Tica, you’ll be riding him” she pointed to the brown and white stallion in the stall next to Tica’s and she could almost see Bryn yelling at himself in his head, instead he just nodded and approached the stallion. “Does this one have a name?” he asked her, probably trying to get over his odd fear, she smiled at him and patted the stallion gently on his head feeding him an apple that was out of his reach. “Don't know yet, he’s yours now. So I guess you get to name him” after she had said that she mounted Tica and took off down the road to Whiterun hoping to make it there by sun down.

Brynjolf was never very good with horses, his first time trying to ride one ended in disaster, but the lass was already too far ahead. Swallowing hard he strapped his pack to the back of the horse, who just clomped his hooves in response. “Ok horse, I’m not very good at this riding stuff, so don't do anything rash and you will be a very well indulged horse”. He took his time mounting the horse, but once he had done so the stallion took off after Safina and Tica. “Woah horse, woah” he tried to slow it in vain. Once he caught up he finally slowed his pace and he heard Safina giggle, “I told you, you have to name him” she said with a laugh in her voice and he thought about it for a while looking at the big trotting animal below him. “What about Thunder?” he looked to Safina to see her response, a bright smile parted her lips. “I think he loves it” he didn't understand what she meant until he saw the horse nodding his head up and down causing him to smile at the horse. Feeling his confidence build he patted the horses neck gently leaning into him, “Alright Thunder, let’s show them what you’ve got” with that the horse took off in a blur down the stone road. Brynjolf felt free on the road and the rush of riding so fast almost made him want to do it all the time.  
As they approached the Whiterun stables he could see Safina out of the corner of his eye putting her mask and hood back on, he was about to ask her why, but they had already reached the stables and Safina dismounted her horse. She left Tica with the stable boy and even gave him a few extra septims, he didn't know why but he admired it. Thieves were not usually the giving type most of them just spent their septims on useless junk and the ones who didn't, hoarded their treasures. He struggled getting off of Thunder, he hadn't noticed that his foot was caught in the stirrup causing him to clumsily crash to the ground. He grumbled under his breath and heard Safina chuckle from a distance, when he stood up he brushed the hay and dirt from his armor and stroked Thunders nose, giving him a bucket of oats to eat from. He ran to catch up to Safina as she started to pass through the city gate, it was just passed sun down and the last of the market vendors were closing up shop for the day, store owners were locking up. He observed that Safina walked away from The Bannered Mare, which was where they were supposed to meet Mallus. “Hey lass, wasn't the contact supposed to be in the tavern there?” she stopped halfway up the stairs to where a blooming sapling sat surrounded by benches. “Yes I know, but there was something I was wanting to check out first, you're welcome to come with me if you like. Or you can talk with Mallus and fill me in once I get there”. He decided to do the former rather than the latter, “I think I’ll come with ya lass, gives me more to do, but if you don't mind me asking where are we going?” he couldn't see her face but he could tell by her body language that she wasn't particularly comfortable. “Er… Jorrvaskr, I have… unfinished business there” he didn't say anymore to press the matter, he just nodded and followed her to Jorrvaskr. He had been to Whiterun plenty of times, but he had never really seen Jorrvaskr, at least not up close. To him it was always get in, do the job, get out, but the ancient tavern in front of him left him dumbstruck, it was much larger than The Bee and Barb and appeared to be made out of the hull of a ship. She stopped with her hand on the handle and he could hear her take a deep breath, she didn't open the door, she just stood there, head down hand on the handle. He came up to her side and tilted his head to try to see her face, but to no avail, “You alright lass? Thinking of joining the Companions? Its an honorable choice, no lie” she just shook her head and muttered something along the lines of. “Just keep your head down and if either of us have to talk let me be the one doing it” he didn't understand the meaning to that, but by the tone in her voice, he didn't really want to. 

Safina had debated even coming to Jorrvaskr at all to be honest, but it had been two years since she had last seen him and she needed to see if he was ok. Everything inside of her screamed not to open the door and after what felt like hours of holding the handle she slowly pushed the door open to see everyone she once knew and loved sitting around the mead hall. She scanned the room for someone in particular, in truth, she wasn't sure if she would see him, she first spotted Farkas leaning against the wall with a tankard in his hand, he had a small golden band on his left hand, ‘hm he got married, I always knew he’d find the right woman someday’. She smiled to herself and took a seat at one of the smaller tables, Bryn sat across from her eyeing everyone in the room as well, probably trying to scope out a potential mark, that made her smile again. From the corner of her eye she found what she had been looking for, Vilkas sitting at the very back of the room, his dark hair slicked back, he had just a faint shadow of a beard, and his eyes, those steel blue eyes glanced up to look at her. Her heart stopped and she looked away as quick as she could trying not to draw attention to herself ‘shit’ out of the corner of her eye she saw him stand and approach her, she cold feel her blood turn to ice and her heart rate quickened, her breath grew shaky and she tried to steady herself. She heard Bryn try to get her attention, “You alright lass?” she stood up from her spot at her table and looked to see he was doing the same. “We should go” she tried to make her voice little more than a whisper, if Vilkas didn't already knew who she was she didnt want to blow her cover over account of her unique voice. She quickly made it to the door with Brynjolf right behind and she let out a sigh of relief until she felt a strong hand grip her arm turning her to face the man she had once loved all those years ago. ‘NO’ she felt her breath catch and her heart plummeted, she couldnt move, not while he had her. She could tell Brynjolf was eyeing him carefully, but she knew he wasn't daft enough to take on the companions in their own home. “Safina?” she knew then she was caught, her stupid need to see him had been her undoing and she hated herself for it. She wanted to answer him but her voice died in her throat, what was she supposed to say? He took her silence as an answer and flung off her hood, it was quickly followed by a surprised gasp and all heads in Jorrvaskr were turned to her. “Safina, I… I thought you were dead” she could see the tears welling in his eyes and her hatred for herself only grew, her heart broke when she saw the tears fall down his face as he embraced her. “Where have you been, I waited day and night for months for you to return, but after five years?!” now his tone had a hint of malice in it and she understood why, he had all the reason in nirn to be mad at her, to hate her, she hated herself. Vilkas firmly gripped her shoulders and looked at her sternly, “Where WERE you?!” she blinked away tears at his broken voice and saw Brynjolf shift uncomfortably, just then realizing he was watching all of this and she wished she hadn't offered for him to come with. Vilkas wouldn’t loosen his grip or his glare at her and she could feel the hot stinging tears slide down her cheeks now, “I couldn't come back Vilkas I’m sorry, I just couldnt. I lost so much, you don't know what it was like” her gaze fell, she couldn't see him, not now. She had expected him to yell, to curse, to banish her from ever coming back, but she hadn't expected what came next. She heard a loud sigh come from the broken man in front of her and she heard him step closer, he lifted his arms and she flinched at the noise, preparing for whatever was coming. Suddenly she felt his large arms around her, he held her tight, one hand cradled the back of her neck while the other laid gently around her waist. She welcomed the embrace but it felt different than it had five years ago, she felt different. He let her go and offered for her and Brynjolf to sit at the table. They obliged gratefully and she was even able to catch up with most of her former family, all the while Brynjolf sat next to her, watching her with new interest. They talked about what she had been up to and she told them as much as Brynjolf would let her, about the Thieves Guild. Brynjolf even shared some of his stories and they all laughed, it made her feel welcomed and happy.

Brynjolf felt uneasy at first and the way Vilkas, as he learned, was with Safina did nothing to ease him. He did enjoy the way they were all like family however, it wasn’t unlike the Thieves Guild, he listened to their stories about how Safina was when she first joined and it made him laugh, he felt good and the mead didn't hurt. “Why didn't you come back to us after you defeated Alduin?” he stopped and sat stiff, ‘Alduin? but wasn't he defeated by the dragonborn, no maybe she was a follower of the dragonborn, she would have told him if she was’. He looked over at her and saw that she had stiffened too, ‘maybe it was an uncomfortable topic for her?’. “Yes we haven't gotten to properly thank the great dragonborn for saving all our hides” at that moment Brynjolf felt all his blood turn to ice, he felt his heart in his stomach and wasn't able to contain himself from crying out,”WHAT!?”. He saw Safina flinch next to him and he stood abruptly, to march out of Jorrvaskr, to do the job they were hired to do. “Bryn, wait, please” he heard Safina call out but it didn't stop him, he had trusted her, he had told her things he had never told anyone before, he had let her in, by the God’s he even… ‘NO!’ he told himself. “Bryn please, let me explain” her gentle hand had grasped his arm in an attempt to stop him, he shrugged it off and turned with force towards her, he stood tall over her and realized then that the top of her head barely reached his chin. “No lass, there is no explaining, I told you EVERYTHING about me, I trusted you, but you couldn't even tell me who you were?!” she flinched and he saw more tears fall from her eyes, but at the moment he didnt care, he stormed out of the mead hall towards the bannered mare. He hadn't made it down the steps towards the market when he heard light footsteps following him, he turned to see Safina struggling to keep up and Vilkas, her guard dog, wasn't far behind. He waved his hand to dismiss her, but she tugged on his arm causing him to stumble and face her, “Bryn, I know you're mad at me, you have every right to be, but you're not the only one who poured out their heart that night” he saw Vilkas wince at that and kind of felt bad for him, he shook the sympathy away and narrowed his eyes at her. “Bryn I didn't want to tell you who I was because I thought you would be safer that way… wherever I go, people die, people I care about. I lost people I loved too Bryn, just like you lost Eir” he felt his blood boil at that point and backed her up to a nearby wall to loom over her. “Don't you mention her name, EVER!” he saw Safina flinch and shrink under him. “Bryn... I’m sorry-”, he punched the wall next to her and she let out a soft gasp, he couldn't help himself from looking into her eyes, they were full of hurt and fear and his heart softened. “I cared about you lass” he said in a whisper as his head hung and his gaze dropped to the ground. He heard her choke out a sob and looked up to see her crying, his heart dropped when he realized the extent of what he had done, but before he could apologize she took off to the inn and slammed the door behind her. He was left alone there, until he realized Vilkas was standing not far off, grasping that he had witnessed the entire thing. Brynjolf wasn't in the mood for talking to him, he had turned to go to the bannered mare in an attempt to apologize when he was abruptly thrown to the wall he had pinned Safina up to, he looked up to see Vilkas standing in front of him and for a moment he swore that his blue eyes had shined amber. “You care about her?!” his question was almost loud enough to wake the whole damn city and Brynjolf stood tall matching the tall companion, “Aye, I do. I have since the moment I met her and if that's a problem for you then you're just going to have do something about it” with that he pushed past the brute and entered the bannered mare to see Safina sitting at a table in the corner, she had her head bent down looking over a tankard of mead and he realized that she was still crying. Feeling too guilty he just approached the innkeeper and ordered a room for the night.

As soon as dawn broke through the night sky Safina found Mallus and had gotten her orders for the job from him, now all that was left to do was wait for Brynjolf to wake. A part of her flinched when she thought about him and what had happened the night before, she understood why he was mad, but she never thought that he cared for her, but in truth she cared for him too. ‘Maybe that's why it didn't feel the same with Vilkas as it usually did’, she didn't know but either way she didn't want to dwell long on it. She had ordered tea and breakfast from Hulda and sat next to the fire, she had only taken a few bites when she saw Brynjolf stumble down the steps in an exasperated state, she would have laughed had it not been for the events from last night. She felt a pang of sadness grip her, ‘what if we can never be close again’ she almost cried again but instead swallowed the bite she had in her mouth hard, in an attempt to keep the tears from spilling over. She watched, quickly eating her breakfast, as she saw Brynjolf buy an apple and a piece of bread and quickly horf it down. After they had eaten they awkwardly made their way to Honningbrew Meadery without so much as a cough to break the tension. When she stepped inside she was immediately hit with the stench of skeever and saw a dead one lying on the ground not far off from a short, pudgy man she only assumed was Sabjorn. “What are you gawking at? Can't you see I have problems here?” at first she was taken aback by his hostile tone and she even saw Brynjolf shift irritably. “You mean these skeevers?” she asked with a hint of sarcasm he didn't seem to catch. “Look at this place. I’m supposed to be holding a tasting of the new Honningbrew Reserve for the captain of the guard. If he sees the meadery in this state I’ll be ruined” she laughed inwardly at how easy it was going to be for her to get this job done, “You know my friend and I could help… if you’d like” he seemed to quirk up just a bit at that. “Oh really? And I don't suppose you’d just do it out of the kindness of your heart’s, would you? I hope you're not expecting to get paid until the job’s done”. She smiled as friendly as she could, “It’s how we operate” he just nodded at her, “Oh very well. Here’s half. You get the rest when the job’s done.” with that he handed her a coin purse and a key to the lower level of the meadery. Before she even made it down the steps she saw two large skeevers that she was able to take down easily enough with the bow she had on her back. As they made their way through the tunnels they had worked great together taking down the skeevers, he moved ahead of her taking the skeevers down with both his daggers and she covered him from farther back with her bow. After about twenty minutes of wandering and pest exterminating they came across a large opening, “Be careful lass, something doesn't feel right here” she wanted to yell at him for ignoring her all day just to say that, but instead she nodded. His sense of intuition had been right because as soon as they entered the opening they were attacked by more skeevers than they had seen throughout the tunnels, she quickly strapped her bow back onto her shoulder and unsheathed her dagger that glowed faintly with a chaos enchantment. She had been able to take down three skeevers no problem and she even glanced worriedly at Brynjolf to see him slicing through fur and flesh and teeth. She heard him cry out in pain as one bit him on his forearm and she cut through the vermin to reach him, but upon killing the last one in her way she was jolted by a painful stream of electricity flowing through her. She turned angrily to see a mage standing in a far off corner, she charged at him ignoring the two bolts he shot at her and plunged her dagger into his chest with a sickening ‘thunk’ sound. When she removed the dagger blood spurted on her armor and started to pool around his body, she wiped her bloody dagger on the mages tattered clothes and stood panting with her effort. All of a sudden she remembered that Brynjolf had been bitten and turned abruptly to see him huddled against the wall, ‘no’ she felt her stomach lurch as she saw he wasn't moving and rushed to him, “Bryn look at me. Come on Bryn you have to stay awake.” he groaned in an answer, his body was going pale and cold and she grew more concerned by the second, she quickly knelt down beside him and inspected the bite, it was big and looked infected already, he was bleeding but that wasn't what concerned her, what concerned her was the venom that was coursing through him. Panicked she equipped the best healing spell she could think of and placed her hand over the wound, after a few moments, and the golden light swarming his arm, the wound closed and Brynjolf stood slowly. He looked at her and blinked a few times, “Thank you lass, Mallus is going to pay for not telling us about that lunatic”. He turned towards her and she couldn't help but let a tear fall, she thought for sure she might have lost him. The thought of it made her heart stop and she almost screamed. “Did he hurt you lass?” his voice broke through her thoughts and she shook her head, this time more tears fell and she couldn't stop herself from blurting out, “I thought I was going to lose you Bryn, I can't lose you…. I.. I-” she felt hot lips on hers as he took her in a kiss. His lips were soft yet forceful and she opened hers to let him have full reign over her mouth. He put one of his large hands on her cheek and the other around the back of her neck, giving him full range of her mouth. After what felt like forever he stopped kissing her and she almost let out a whimper. She felt something then that she had never felt before, not even with Vilkas, he made her feel alive and even the dragon souls inside her stirred at this new feeling. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment, “We should probably finish our job here” she groaned and he smiled at her cupping her face in his large hands. “I know lass, trust me, leaving this is the last thing I want to do right now, but we can finish what we started later. We have work to do” she nodded and they made there way to the boilery.

Brynjolf had only kissed her in a spur of the moment but the more he kissed her, the more he felt, she was sweetness and she was soft. When she let him take over her he felt a burning in his chest and stomach he thought he would never feel again, although he didn't want to admit it he did much more than just care about her. After they had poisoned the vat they made their way back to Sabjorn and sat waiting for captain Sinmir to drink the poisoned batch. Neither of them had paid attention to the conversation that ensued between him and Sabjorn, that is until he was arrested, after which Safina talked with Mallus once more who gave her a key to Sabjorn’s dresser. Once they were up there she turned to him, “What was that about, in the cave?” he blinked slightly confused for a moment until he realized she was talking about the kiss. “I told you lass, I care about you. Whether you want to believe that or not is up to you but it’s true” she just smiled and rummaged through the dresser until she found what she was looking for and pulled out a paper. It was a promissory note, Safina read it quickly then handed it to him, “Bryn look, it's the same symbol that was on the Goldenglow bill of sale”. He took it from her and skimmed over it trying to find out if he had seen the symbol before, but with no luck, “We need to get this to Mercer”.


	3. love and lust

When Safina and Brynjolf left Honningbrew it was mid afternoon and Safina had gotten an idea, she turned to Bryn with a smile and he raised an eyebrow. “I’m not quite sure if I like that look lass, what’s on your mind” she shrugged innocently as they walked back to the stables to get their horses. “You know Bryn, now that you know that I’m dragonborn and all…” she paused for a dramatic effect and saw him furrow his brows and narrow his eyes in thought, “Get on with it lass, I may care about you, but I never said that I was patient”. She let out a short laugh and skipped ahead, almost feeling like a child, until she stopped abruptly. Vilkas was standing at the stables, he approached her slowly, “Are you going to leave again, without saying goodbye?” she felt her heart lurch. He had waited all of this time for her and what had she done? Got mixed up with another man. ‘To be fair he is an incredible man’ she told herself and she felt sorry that she no longer felt for Vilkas what she had used to feel. She didn't have to be a werewolf anymore to get that he still felt for her, suddenly his manner changed, he grew tense and even glared at Brynjolf behind her, then at her. “Or is that why you weren't going to say goodbye? I can smell him all over you Safina, is that how low you objectify yourself? To be with this thieving trash?” she flinched at his harsh tone and before she could say anything Brynjolf gently moved her to the side to stand in front of Vilkas. “Ignoring the fact that you just insulted me as well as my entire family. She can choose what she wants for herself, and to be honest you must not have cared very much for her if you didn't even look for her”. Brynjolf glared at Vilkas and she swore she could hear them both growling at eachother. Feeling as if she had seen enough testosterone for one day she grabbed Brynjolf’s arm gently pulling him away from Vilkas to look at the both of them. “While I appreciate you defending me Brynjolf, I could just as easily shout you both into oblivion. So it would be wise to keep that in mind next time you feel the need to fight for my affections” she turned her attention solely to Vilkas now who was visibly hurt, it broke her heart to see him like that, but Brynjolf had awoken something in her she had never felt. “Vilkas, I wasn't going to say goodbye because I wasn't going to be gone forever, I will be back and I know in time you will heal from this and find a woman who deserves you… I don't”. Vilkas just huffed and stalked off. She looked over to Brynjolf who had a sheepish look on his face, “I’m sorry lass. I don't know what came over me” he rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. “It's fine Bryn, really. I just feel bad for Vilkas” she sighed and rubbed her face slowly. “You know lass, you were about to tell me something before we were… interrupted”, he strained on the last word making his indifference toward Vilkas obvious. Just then she had remembered what it was she was going to ask him and she smiled at him and he lifted her up onto her horse. She watched as he struggled to get onto Thunder, almost laughing when he over judged his mounting, he slipped to the side of the horse, then struggled to get right side up. She laughed and he glared at her, clearing her throat she looked out towards the path to falkreath, “How would you feel about seeing my house, Bryn?”. She could tell that he hadn't been expecting her to ask that, “You have a house, lass. Where?” she didn't answer. But instead she raced Tica down the road.

Brynjolf was tired of riding, it had been almost four hours and his arse was starting to ache. But he could tell they were coming close to her home because she had slowed her pace on her horse. What they had approached it was smaller than he had expected, more like a shed than a home. He was about to ask her what was happening until he noticed that she went beyond the small cottage, he followed until he came over a hill to see a large manor, with stables and an animal pen. That had been what he had expected to see as the home of the great dragonborn, he saw Safina leave Tica in the stable, then turn to him. She smiled sweetly and he felt his breath catch, she was stunning, but she was also more than that. He followed her as she opened the door to the manor, they were immediately met by a rather menacing looking redguard woman with her ebony sword drawn. “State your business here”, she had growled at them through narrowed eyes, but quickly relaxed and sheathed her weapon once her eyes met Safina. “Oh, I’m sorry my thane. It's been awhile I didn't know it was you at first” he felt a shock of surprise at the mention of her title. ‘What else has she not told me?’ he was determined to find out, but he was also keenly aware of his growling stomach needing food. He looked over to Safina and she nodded, guessing what he was wanting, he gladly sat at the large dining table in the center of the hall and took a bowl of venison soup he saw. He heard Safina talking to her housecarl quietly, but didn't care much while he was stuffing his face. As he was eating visions of his mom came flashing back, he could almost feel like he was back in his parents farming cottage. The fire was going and he could smell the rabbit and potato stew his mother was cooking, he could hear his da outside cutting wood. His mom was humming a familiar tune and he hopefully walked up to her, praying that it was really her, he could see her ginger hair fall down her back in waves and she turned to him with her same sweet smile and bright blue eyes. “Come with me Bryn” her voice had called him softly, then he heard it again this time much closer to him. “Bryn, come on, you old coot” he blinked and his eyes focused to see Safina leaning across her table staring at him playfully, for a moment he just stared back. He loved the way her eyes were so different, yet they reflected her personality so well. She was alike in that way, her dragon soul gave her a fierce and passionate side. Yet she was also kind, nurturing, generous and benevolent, he loved that about her. “Where are we going, lass?” she didn't answer, instead she grabbed his hand, pulling him to stand up. She shot him a mischievous ‘come get me’ look, with that she took off out the front door again. A sinister grin parted his lips, ‘oh, lass you are so going to get it’ he followed after her quickly, they ran around the side of the house and he took a fast glance to admire how large it was, really. She sped off down a hill and through some trees, he followed, but didn't understand until he broke through the thicket. He stopped, gawking at the vision before him. A glossy lake stood still reflecting the brilliant colors of the night sky and the stars and moon above him, he watched aways from the shore. Safina stood close to the edge of the water and started to strip herself of her armor, he watched intently, his heart beat quickened in pace and he could hear his breath coming in short gasps. She had stripped herself down to just her smalls and he took a moment to really enjoy how feminine her body looked in the moon’s light. She was slender, yet curved, her breasts had been just a bit larger than he had expected and her waist was tucked in a bit showing a lean stomach. Her hips flared out again, but not drastically and her thighs were the perfect ratio to the rest of her, he walked slowly closer to see how the inside of her thighs gently touched the other, she was perfect in every sense of the word. He hadn't noticed that she was staring too, but when he did he had wanted to look away, embarrassed with himself, but he couldn't. She smiled sweetly, undoing her hair, letting it fall to her mid torso. She had walked closer to him and he noticed how light she was on her feet when she was barefoot, he had barely heard her make a step, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her slightly pointed ear and looked up at him through her lashes. It was a look that would be his undoing and he swallowed hard, feeling as if he had made himself enough of an idiot he bent down to undo his boots, taking them off one at a time. Once he had done so he moved to his cuirass, undoing all of his buckles slower than he had wanted. He cursed in his head at the sheer number of them all then slipped it off once he had finally gotten the last one free. He stopped undressing to shoot a glance to Safina, knowing that this was the first time she was seeing him without his armor.

Safina couldn't help but admire him, even though he stubbornly kept his trousers on. He was heavenly standing before her, his arms bulged with muscles and his chest was wide and strong, sporting just a bit of his dark auburn hair. His stomach was lean yet rippled with muscles of its own, all in all he was… big. She watched, as he turned around bending over to remove his trousers, so he too was in his smalls. She bit her bottom lip with want, watching as his back muscles surged with strength. She could feel so many things go through her, but at that moment only one had captured her entirety, lust. Not wanting to act rash, she moved towards the lake, gently diving in when she was close enough. Even though it had been the middle of summer, the water was still cold, but not unbearable. When she broke the water for air she found Brynjolf right in front of her, he didn't waste a moment as he wrapped a strong arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him so her chest collided with his. She stood there in the water for a moment, nothing but a lips distance from Brynjolf. His brilliant green eyes shined with the dancing colors in the sky and she could see the same emotion in them that was inside of herself, a great hunger. They stood for a few moments captivated by each others presence, it was so quiet it felt as if the world around them was holding its breath, waiting for what would come next. Then she saw it, just a flash somewhere in his eyes, his need for her, and before she could utter a word his lips crashed against hers with such force she thought she would collapse. Her mind sent shivers through her body and she could almost hear her own pulse as she kissed him back, feeling the full force of his mouth, hot and wet against hers. She moaned with pleasure as he pressed his body closer to hers and she could feel his member hard between her legs. Her moan had sent him into a frenzy and he picked her up, carrying her to the shores edge where he had laid a fur blanket for them. As he gently laid her unto the blanket, he crawled over the top of her and kissed her more, he groaned softly and it made her thighs tremble, ‘how did he make her want something so badly?’. He moved one of his hands to fondle her breast and it shot a tendril of pleasure through her as she moaned into his mouth, as he fondled her, she kissed back with passion. She couldn't hold out much longer, not when he was doing this to her and she wanted him badly. She struggled to remove the lower half of her underclothes and felt him stop to whisper, “What are you doing lass?” she groaned at the fact that his delicious lips left hers and wanted to pull him back to her, instead she removed her breast cover, letting them free. She heard a primal growl escape Brynjolf’s throat before he took one of her pink, peaked, nipples in his mouth, sucking and biting gently at it. She let her head fall back as her body moved inwardly to him, there was no doubt in the world that she wanted him and he wanted her back. She reached her hands down to his hips to remove his smalls. He stopped sucking on her breast for a moment and helped with the removal of the last nuisance in the way, letting his cock spring free. It was much larger than she had anticipated, a hunger filled her and she grasped it softly in her hand making him moan. As she stroked him he returned his mouth to her breasts moving from one to the other and even kissing between them, she had moaned with pleasure at the talent of his mouth and wanted to show him talent of her own. Even though she had never been with a man before, she had spent time with bandits and pirates and they were not decorus when it came to their love making. She stopped stroking him and heard him groan with defiance before he stopped his foreplay on her, she stood him up and knelt in front of him. He looked down at her with hungry eyes as he seemed to understand what she was doing, she gently grabbed his cock again stroking it a few times before she put his tip into her mouth, he moaned and let his head fall back. Wanting to keep him on his toes, she kept her mouth at just his tip taking him in and out and using her tongue in the best ways she could. Every time she took him in her mouth she slid just a little more in, bobbing her head a bit, listening to his sounds of pleasure before stopping again, she wanted him to reach his limit, to want her with everything he had. It didn't take long for him to need more, he ran his hand through her hair looking at her with more hunger and need than she had ever seen as he whispered, “You're going to get it now lass”. She wanted to smile at that and say something equally as deviant, but he tightened his grip on her hair making her gasp, as she did so he thrust himself deep into her mouth. She could feel his cock hitting the base of her throat, but instead of fighting or choking she relaxed, tightening her lips around him as he bobbed her head for her. She could feel him growing harder as he thrust into her mouth, groaning with pleasure. Suddenly he stopped, causing her to whimper, he smirked at her. “Now it's my turn” he laid her down onto her stomach and slowly crawled on top of her.

Brynjolf enjoyed the way her mouth felt around his cock, in truth it was as good as any other cunt he had felt. But he needed more, he needed to feel her, it wasn't just any primal need to fuck, it was more than that, he longed to be a part of her. As he laid her down on her stomach he got to his hands and knees and crawled over her, gripping her hips softly, he tugged at them, positioning her arse in an upwards angle to better get a feeling of her. As she lay there completely open to him, he rubbed the length of his cock on her bundle of nerves, making her moan, her could feel her hot wetness beginning to pool. Smirking, he took hold of his cock, leaning back he looked at the entrance to her, it was small and soft, void of hair. He wanted so bad to push every inch of him inside her to her brink right then and there, but he needed to make her work for it first. He slowly rubbed the tip of his cock on her entrance, causing her thighs to rub together and he felt more of her wetness pooling onto him, almost undoing him. He slid his tip into her gradually, feeling the tightness of her grip him, he moaned quietly. He pulled himself out and pushed back in again never giving her more than his tip and before long her moans of impatience grew louder. “Tell me what you want lass” he whispered in her ear, taunting her, she had been quick to respond. “I want you to fuck me, Bryn”, he obliged kindly, slowly pushing his cock into her, feeling how tight her cunt was, was enough to get him to tear her up, but he made himself go slow. He had not gone in more than a few inches when he felt a slight a ‘pop’, realization almost made him stop, but he couldn't, she felt so good around him. As he filled her to the brim she whimpered slightly and he just stayed there for a few moments, letting her adjust to him. He slowly began thrusting almost all of the way out of her, then back in again, her wetness grew and the primal instinct took over him. His thrusts became faster as he felt her grip around him flex and tighten with her pleasure, he groaned, grabbing her hips tightly for leverage. He thrust harder into her, his cock throbbing from pleasure and her tight wetness around him, she was moaning louder now, which fueled his need to plow her. His breathing turned into panting and he thrust with wild hard smacks to her arse, he enjoyed the sound her arse made as he slammed into it. He could feel himself growing the urge to release his seed inside her, he re-situated his hands so they were on each of her cheeks now. He held nothing back as he thrust as deep and as hard as he could, making her cry out in pleasure, “Oh, Bryn please, I’m gonna cum”. That had thrown him over the edge, his hands clenched on her cheeks and he could feel her tightening her grip around him, with one more thrust she had come undone, squirting her wetness all over his cock and groin area, she cried out in her orgasms which made him give a few more quick thrusts. He couldn't handle it anymore as she was coming down he gripped her with force getting all the way inside her, “Oh, fuck” he grunted as he sent his seed into her, then collapsed by her side. Both of them were now a sweating, panting mess, and he looked over at her to see her eyes closed, her breathing slowly returning to normal, but she wasn't asleep. “Why didn't you tell me lass?” she opened her eyes to look at him, then rolled over onto her back, looking at the stars above them. “I didn't think it was important at the time, I guess” he snorted and moved closer to her, putting his arm around her so she could lay her head on his chest. He listened to her breathing and stroked her hair as they watched the lights move from pink to green and purple. “I want you to do something for me, lass”, he said it as if it were a question, but he knew exactly what he wanted. She had looked up at him and sat up leaning on her elbow, “And what's that?” she had cocked a brow in confusion and he understood why, after all she had just given him all she could give to a man. “I want to know everything about you, I mean everything. Don't hold anything back”, she made her thinking face again and he chuckled out loud this time, but she didn't seem to mind, after a few moments she nodded and laid close to him again, but far enough so he could still see her face. “Ok well, after I crossed over into skyrim I was taken to Helgen, they were about to execute me when Alduin. The big ugly dragon, attacked, I escaped with the help of Ulfric, who’s now the high king, and a Stormcloak soldier. The soldier and I, whose name was Ralof, went to Riverwood. I had planned on just going about my normal life after that to continue my search for my father, but they needed someone to warn Whiterun and to send troops. So, naturally, me being me, I went to warn them. But not before I joined the Companions and became harbinger. After that I went to Jarl Balgruuf and he wanted me to help defeat a dragon since I was technically the only one qualified. Once we did defeat the winged lizard, I absorbed its soul and that's how I first found out I was dragonborn. They greybeards then summoned me and of course I had to answer them, so I climbed nirns dumbest mountain, trained with a bunch of grumpy old men who never get out of there house. I went on a wild goose chase to find some dead guys horn, for no reason, ended up working for the blades to take out the Thalmor. Went back to the grumpy old men to figure out how to stop Alduin, they were a bunch of asses about it, then I met Paarthurnax, who is, besides Odahviing, the greatest dragon ever, he likes to talk. Went to the college to try to find the Elder scroll, ended up becoming the arch-mage after another Thalmor ass tried to blow it up. Found the Elder scroll, took it back to the dumb mountain, read it to learn a shout to help me defeat alduin. I defeated Alduin on nirn that day, but he's a brat so he escaped to Sovngarde. I went through just about every stupid thing ever to find out how he had gotten there, but not before I was pulled into the dark brotherhood and killed the emperor. Then I went through a magic portal that took me to Sovngarde, where I finally took down Alduin then I magically poofed back to dumb mountain and faked my death”. He furrowed his brows and frowned at her, “Why?” she sighed and looked down for a moment then back up to the stars. “Because, I lost everyone I cared about, Skjor, he was in the companions, Kodlak, he was the old harbinger. Mirabelle, she was a teacher at the college, not to mention the arch-mage. Astrid and pretty much everyone else who used to be in the brotherhood, they were like family to me. And my friend, Lydia, she was killed that day I first defeated Alduin”, he could feel tears dripping onto his arm and he kissed her forehead gently. “I promise you, lass. You won't have to lose anyone ever again”. She smiled at that and he felt himself drifting into sleep.

It had been a long journey back to riften, but Safina didn't mind it anymore, her feelings for Brynjolf were undeniable, it made her doom-driven existence that much better. Once they had made it back to the Guild Brynjolf had given Mercer the promissory note they had found and Mercer had sent Vex to check out a former contact up in Solitude who might have had a lead. Safina walked to the flagon to find Delvin, she had a few things he might have been interested in and a few of the thalmor dossier from her home she had forgotten about. She hoped they would help find her father and if anyone could get information on it, she knew it was Delvin. After there conversation and Delvin’s eagerness to buy the bee statue and the decanter, she sat at one of the tables to eat a salmon steak and drink mead until her belly exploded. “Hey Safina, what's with Brynjolf?” she heard the familiar voice of her friend Sapphire followed by Rune quickly at her heels, they both sat at her table and she hadn't even had a sip of mead. “What do you mean?” she tilted her head slightly not seeing what they were seeing, he was at the bar waiting for his own food and glanced her way, showing a brilliant, crooked smile that sent flutters to her stomach. “That. that is exactly what I mean” Sapphire made a gesture that connected her and Bryn. “Well, we kind of… slept together” she said the last part with a shrug and saw Sapphire and Rune exchange a glance she couldn't identify, then Sapphire turned back to her. “I knew you two were gonna screw, it was only a matter of time” she turned back to Rune and stuck out her palm, “Now pay up”. Safina’s eyebrows shot up and she gasped, feeling a bit violated, “You two bet on when Bryn and I would screw?!”. Sapphire shrugged and Rune looked like a sheepish child, “Not just us Safina, the whole guild did. Sapphire bet it would be when you two were on a job. I bet it would be when you two were here. Delvin and Vex both bet it would be when you two were not on a job, but weren't here. And everyone else just bet that you two wouldn't screw” she crossed her arms, then she heard Bryn approach. “Actually we weren't technically on a job, it was at her house, oh and she's the dragonborn”, she heard gasps from everyone in the flagon and she shot a glare at Bryn who just smiled at her with a mouthful of rabbit haunch.

Safina had spent the greater part of three days telling the whole Guild her life story, waiting for Vex to return. She and Bryn hadn't slept together since the night at her house, but it wasn't like he was ignoring her either, he'd pull her into an alley when they were out in riften to kiss her passionately, or he'd steal beautiful jewelry for her to wear. When they had gotten back into the guild, a brand new gold and diamond necklace laid on top of her breasts, they were confronted by Mercer and his famous permanent scowl. “Vex is back, Karliah has been behind this the whole time”, she didn't know the name personally but she had heard of it before. Bryn left her side to talk with Mercer about it and she realized that Karliah had been the one that murdered Gallus, the previous Guild master. She felt anger when she thought of how anyone could kill someone that they said they loved before Mercer’s voice broke into her thoughts once more. “Safina I want you to come with me to confront Karliah”, at that Brynjolf took a step between her and Mercer. “But, Mercer Karliah is a murderer and a damn good one. I won't be able to sleep knowing shes in that kind of danger”, her heart almost melted at Brynjolf’s obvious affection for her, but it did nothing to sway Mercer as he looked at Brynjolf with unforgiving eyes. “I have made my decision, Brynjolf”, at that he turned his attention to her and she saw Brynjolf open his mouth as if to contend, then walk back to the flagon in a fluster. “Pack your things we leave tomorrow at first light”, she just nodded and headed to her bed to pack her things for the long journey ahead of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who leave kudos and comments, leave suggestions if you like too :)


	4. Mercer's Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safina travels with Mercer to Snow Veil Sanctum to confront their enemy, but a new one presents itself to them. Brynjolf and Safina plan their next move

Safina woke that morning to find Brynjolf was already gone, she frowned wanting to talk to him before she left, but resorted to writing a quick letter which she left in the right top drawer of her dresser. Mercer had been waiting for her at the stables impatiently and gave her no time to get ready or look for Brynjolf which made her frown. The whole journey to Snow Veil Sanctum she couldn't stop thinking about him and the trip took much longer than she had expected. It took them four days to get there on account of Mercer’s frequent stops which irritated her to no end, they shared little words. But she was even more frustrated when they had found the door to the ruin locked and she was unable to unlock it, mercer said something about how the looks werent that hard and it took skill to find the weak point. But she didn't listen her mind was still on Brynjolf, when Mercer had unlocked the door she shook her head clearing the thoughts of him, to prepare herself for whatever lay in wait for them. As they stepped inside she was immediately encountered with the stench of death and heard Mercer say, “The stench in here… this place smells of death. Be on your guard”. They had managed to sneak past most of the draugr there until they reached a opening, “Bone chimes… clever. Rigged to wake the draugr I’d bet. Don't blunder into any of them”, he had whispered. She managed to sneak past all of the bone chimes as she pulled the chain to open the metal gate Mercer had triggered one of the bone chimes, awakening the draugr around them. She glared back at him over her shoulder and he shrugged innocently, she took her dagger and charged at the first draugr she saw slicing his throat causing black thick blood to ooze around her. She shuddered, draugr blood always made her uncomfortable and stank like oblivion, when she looked at Mercer she noted that he had already taken the rest down. He was undeniably a great warrior, they managed to get through the rest of the ruins without waking anymore draugr. As they approached a puzzle door that she was much too acquainted with, but she couldn't find the matching claw anywhere. Again she heard Mercer mumble something about the uselessness of the lock, eventually opening it. She had walked foolishly in before him and was instantly met with another sharp pain to her shoulder and realized she had been shot… again. She fell to the ground with a ‘thud’ unable to move. “Do you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?” Mercer had asked with malice dripping off his tongue. “Give me a reason to try” she looked to see the hooded dark elf approach from the shadows. “You're a clever girl, Karliah. Buying Goldenglow estate and funding Honningbrew meadery was inspired”. His tone hadn’t let up and she would've smirked if she had control over her lips. “To ensure an enemies defeat, you must first undermine his allies’. It was the first lesson Gallus taught us”, she swore she heard a pang of grief in the elf’s voice but she felt no pity for her. “You always were a quick study”, mercer stated flatly. “Not quick enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive”, ‘what did she mean by that?’ Safina wondered, helpless to the situation, but watching the drama nonetheless. “Gallus had his wealth and he had you. All he had to do was the look the other way”. Now it all made sense to her, Mercer had killed Gallus and framed Karliah, who spent all this time trying to prove her innocence. “Did you forget the oath we took as Nightingales? Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?” Nightingales? She knew she had heard that before, but she had no idea where. “Enough of this mindless banter! Come, Karliah. It’s time for you and Gallus to become reunited!” she watched, helpless as Mercer unsheathed his dwarven sword, wishing she could come to Karliah’s defense. “I’m no fool, Mercer. Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence. But I can promise the next time we meet, it will be your undoing.” Karliah drank an invisibility potion it appeared as she quickly vanished from sight. Mercer then turning to her and crouching to her level so she could see his sneer. “You don't have to struggle anymore Safina, you'll be dead soon” she glared at him defiantly, but then her thoughts went to Brynjolf and she managed to weakly mutter, “Bryn…”. He scoffed at her, “Oh, yes. I’ll be sure to send Brynjolf your regards”. He leaned into her and she could smell his rancid breath as he yanked the amulet Brynjolf had gotten her from around her neck ‘NO!’. she had wanted to scream, but couldn't, he stood over her and took his dwarven sword running it through her middle. She wanted to cry out in pain, to move, to do anything, but then her mind went to Brynjolf. Soon it was nothing but darkness and cold.

The day Safina left, Brynjolf hadnt been able to say goodbye and he regretted that, but hoped she would be back soon. Although it had been over a week and he was starting to worry, they should have been back by now. He paced the cistern knowing no one was there to tell him to calm down, except Delvin who was in the Flagon, probably drinking himself into a stupor. Since Mercer had left he was in charge temporarily and he had sent everyone else out on jobs, ever since Safina had joined she had broken the record for most jobs done in a two month period. They were doing so well, in fact that they had clients swarming in. they even got a new merchant, blacksmith and alchemist to take up residence in the empty alcoves in the Flagon. Even two new recruits had joined, Safina was definitely an asset to them all. He heard the trap door to the flagon open, and someone clumsily fell to the cistern floor, he turned abruptly hoping to see Safina, but it was Mercer on the ground. He had been injured, badly and groaned a few times in pain, he looked up to the door hoping to see her stumble in just as Mercer had done. He waited for a few moments, but nothing happened, he turned back to Mercer, “Where is she?”. He had asked panicked, but Mercer didn't answer, he just hung his head. Brynjolf felt his blood run cold and his heart stop, “Mercer, where is she?!” he had yelled causing Delvin to rush in shortly after. He looked around and shortly knew what Brynjolf refused to see. “Karliah got the drop on us, she shot Safina in cold blood, I tried to save her. Karliah rushed me and I had to leave, I barely made it out of there alive.” Brynjolf looked down to see Mercer holding something in his hand, he stretched out his arm and took it from him, it was the amulet he had gotten Safina, but it was covered in blood. Rage fueled him, his vision ran red and his breathing grew quick and unstable. He picked up Mercer pinning him to a nearby wall, his dark eyes were void of emotion. “You left her there? You could have saved her Mercer, I told you to bring me… why didn't you bring me instead?” the last question made his voice crack in defeat and he dropped Mercer. His world was crumbling around him and he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned, eyes wild to see Delvin with the same look of grief he was feeling. “We will all miss her Bryn, but for now we need to plan ahead. Avenge her death, so she didn't die for nothing” he slowly nodded swallowing the hard lump that had formed in his throat. He slowly made his way to her sleeping area, he wrapped her amulet around the hilt of one of his daggers after cleaning it. He wanted, needed to feel close to her, desperate he searched through her dresser to find anything of hers he could cling to. When he got to the top right drawer in her dresser he found a folded up paper and reached in to grab it. As he unfolded it he realized it was for him, “Bryn, I am writing this to you now, hoping that if something should happen to me, you will find it. I’ve lost so much in my life, I couldn't lose anyone else. That's why I agreed to go with Mercer, I guess a part of me knew this wasn't going to end well. I couldn't stand the thought of losing you, not now… I couldn't imagine a life without you in it, Bryn. I guess what I’m trying to say is that… I love you”. Tears fell from his face, making a few drops hit the paper, smearing some of the ink. He swallowed, his hands shaking with grief and anger then continued reading. “If what I fear does happen, I wanted you to know how I feel. I don't want you to blame yourself, I chose to go, so please, Bryn, don't do anything stupid. There’s something under this letter that I want you to have, I had been working on it for a few days and thought that it would be something to keep us close, even when we're apart. I love you, Bryn and I want you to know you will never be alone”. He felt his heart lurch and a numbing pain gripped his chest as the lump in his throat returned, the tears falling uncontrollably from him. He set the letter down and looked back in the dresser to see a painting she had made. It was of the night they had shared by the lake, the stars glittered and the colors danced in the sky, reflected in the mirror of the lake. The two moons hovered lazily above and in the center was him, holding Safina. Their faces close enough to kiss, one of his hands was around her waist and the other gently framed her cheek. Her hands were wrapped around the back of his neck and he closed his eyes picturing that night, wishing so badly that he could just hold her again. Feeling broken, he hung the painting up on his wall and left the cistern, heading out of Riften into the woods of the Rift. he wandered for a while before falling to his knees, looking up at the stars above him angrily, “Why?! Why would you take her? She was light and good… she was everything that made my miserable existence worth-while… and I never got to tell her how I felt…” his head hung as he felt sharp regret take him, letting the tears fall freely.

Safina woke feeling sore, she lifted the blanket that covered her, looking to her abdomen to see a new, soft pink scar where Mercer’s blade had pierced her. She furrowed her brows confused, the last thing she had remembered was that Karliah had shot her, then Mercer practically confessed that he murdered Gallus. Then Mercer had stabbed her and the last thing she had thought of before falling into the void was Brynjolf. “Bryn!” she exclaimed as she struggled to sit up, wincing at the effort. She felt a gently hand on her shoulder and was keenly aware of the dark elf woman in front of her, “Easy, easy don't try to stand up just yet”. She shrugged the hand off, putting her hand on her knee, pushing herself up. She looked at the woman in front of her with narrowed eyes, “Didn't you shoot me?”. The dark elf nodded and she noticed her amethyst eyes, reminding her of her mother. She shook away the thought when she heard the elf woman speak again, “No, I saved your life. My arrow was tipped with a unique paralytic poison. It slowed your heart and kept you from bleeding out. Had I intended to kill you, we wouldn't be having this conversation.” she sighed and put her cuirass back on carefully, not to upset her new scar. “Why did you save me? you don't know me, you don't owe me anything” her tone was bleak as she realized that by now Mercer had gone back to the Guild and probably spun some tale of how she had turned against them all, or that Karliah had killed her. Either way she longed to see Brynjolf. “My original intention was to use that arrow on Mercer, but I never had a clear shot. I made a split second decision to get you out of the way and it prevented your death”. Safina nodded, grabbing her bow and quiver, strapping it to her back, then picked up her dagger placing it back in its sheath. “Well then, Karliah, I am in your debt”, the dark elf gave a short laugh. “More than you’ll ever realize. The poison on that arrow took me a year to perfect. I only had enough for one shot.” Safina turned to Karliah, feeling much more grateful to her then. “I guess I will have to pay my debt by killing Mercer myself then”, Karliah shook her head and Safina was immediately irritated. “No, we have to bring him before the guild, make them see what he’s done. Then they will decide what to do with him”, she sighed again and blinked slowly at Karliah. “Ok then how do you propose we do that?”.  
Karliah had found Gallus’ journal, they traveled a few hours to take it to Enthir, she was glad to see him again, but not to explain again why she had faked her death. He had sent her to Markarth to retrieve a way to decode Gallus’ journal since it was written in a language none of them spoke. She made her way into Understone keep to speak with Calcelmo, she had talked to him before, gotten him dwarven artifacts he had asked for. She walked over to him with a smile on her face, “Dragonborn, welcome, welcome, what can I do for you?”. He had smiled at her in a friendly manner, “Hi Calcelmo, I was wondering if you have any books on the Falmer language?”. He cocked a brow at her a little confused, “Whatever for, my dear?”. She shrugged casually, “Just some academic purposes, I suppose”. He nodded and turned back to his table seeming a bit more than distracted, “Alright then, I should have some in my museum if you would like to take a look, but please stay away from my laboratory” she nodded back at him even though she knew he couldn't see her, ‘why do I do that?’. She headed into the museum and said her hello’s to some of the guards inside, as usual they ignored her and she took that to her advantage quietly slipping into the laboratory. Once inside she saw two guards talking to each other about some of the dwemer traps that were still active, she winced knowing full too well what those barbaric things did. She slipped past them into the room and saw two doors, one to her left that was locked and she was unable to unlock and the other to her right which she walked through to see a khajiit standing guard. She reluctantly grabbed her bow and notched an arrow into it silently taking out the guard and proceeding to the next area. As she went further into the building she took out a few more guards, she came to a large open area with a long stone table. There was one guard standing watch and a young man sitting at the table grumbling something, she recognized him as Calcelmo’s nephew. She grabbed an invisibility potion out of her pack, that Karliah had given her. Moments after it passed her lips she had disappeared, she passed the guard and the nephew without being seen and saw a dwarven cube glinting in the corner of her eye. She swiped it knowing that Delvin would appreciate it, she smiled a little at that. Once she had walked through the golden door she found herself outside on a rocky balcony, following the path she found another door that she opened and passed through. She saw a raised stone area with a large stone tablet. She walked over to the stone tablet and raised her hands, grabbing onto the ledge, slowly pulling herself up to stand in front of the tablet. She eyed it thoughtfully and reached into her pack pulling out her journal and a piece of charcoal she had, she ripped out a blank page and placed it over the tablet putting her jornal back into her pack. She rubbed the charcoal over the paper and put the paper safely into one of her pockets, once she was done she headed back out the door and jumped down through a waterfall, heading out of Markarth and back to Winterhold. Once there, she opened the door to The Frozen Hearth inn, she was greeted by the warm welcoming fire and the smell of food and mead. Her stomach growled, but she ignored it as she stepped down the stairs to the cellar to talk to Karliah and Enthir. She handed the rubbing to Enthir who cocked a brow, “A rubbing eh? I was expecting… something else. No matter just give me a moment while I translate.” while he translated the journal he would mutter to himself and she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to Brynjolf. She had been gone for over three weeks now and she was so anxious to get back to him, he must be going through so much, she had only hoped that he had found her letter. “Hmm. this is intriguing, but highly disturbing. It appears that Gallus had begun to uncover what he calls an… unduly lavish lifestyle replete with spending vast amounts of gold personal pleasures”. She could only imagine what he meant by personal pleasures and she shuddered. Karliah and Enthir talked more about the journland her attention was brought back to them when Karliah approached her, “Safina, it's time we get back to the Guild before Mercer does anymore damage. Are you ready to return to Riften?” she instantly thought of Brynjolf and her feet begun to itch with impatience, “Yes, let's go”.

Brynjolf had been looking for Mercer for the past few days, but he was nowhere to be found. It had been over three weeks since he learned of Safina’s death and nothing helped to numb the pain he felt. Everyday he had woken up before he remembered what had happened, he half expected to see her lying next to him, smiling at him sweetly, her bi-colored eyes glinting with happiness. He felt his heart lurch again and he swallowed hard trying to stop the tears from spilling from his eyes, he needed to be strong now, for the Guild, for her. He looked over at the painting and a bittersweet smile split his lips. He heard the door from the flagon fling open and Rune ran in huffing with effort, “Brynjolf its Karliah, she's here, and someone else is with her, but I couldn't see who”. Rage burned through him and he saw it as his chance to seek revenge for stealing away the best thing in his life. “Tell Delvin and Vex to come here and stand guard, we’ll get that bitch and her friend for killing Safina” Rune nodded and took off again, shortly after Delvin and VEx had come in to stand by his side, they all had their weapons drawn and waited for the traitorous bitch to pass the door. The door opened and he saw Karliah approach, followed by a hooded figure, she looked somewhat familiar but he wasn't able to see her face. “You better have a damn good reason to be here after what you did to Safina, murderer” he put as much malice into his voice as he could and saw Karliah flinch while her friend shifted uncomfortably. “Please, lower your weapons so we can speak. I have proof that you've all been misled!”, he didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, but she wouldn't have walked into the cistern unless she had something to say. “No tricks, Karliah or I’ll cut you down where you stand. Now whats this so-called proof you speak of?” he narrowed his eyes at her. “I have Gallus’ journal. I think you'll find its contents disturbing”. Sha handed him the journal and he opened it and began reading, “No, it… can't be. This can't be true. I've known mercer too long…” Brynjolf kept reading but Karliah’s voice broke into his thoughts. “It’s true, Brynjolf. Every word. Mercer’s been stealing from the Guild for years, right under your noses”. He closed the journal feeling sick and turned to Delvin, “There’s only one way to find out if what the lass says is true. Delvin, I’ll need you to open the vault.” they all walked towards the Guild when Delvin pulled at his arm, “Wait just a blessed moment, Bryn. what’s in that book? What did it say?” his stomach dropped when he began to perceive it all, he told Delvin what he read and how it must have meant that Mercer had killed Safina and not Karliah. Delvin used his key and went back to take his place by Vex’s side. Feeling a jolt of jealousy, he took his key and unlocked the rest of the door. He stepped inside once it was unlocked to see it completely empty, “By the eight! Its gone, everything’s gone! Get in here, all of you!” the rest of them came in looking distressed, muttering some things to themselves, but all that mattered to him was spilling Mercer’s blood for Safina. “Delvin, Vex… watch the flagon. If you see Mercer, come tell me right away”. They all left, except for Karliah’s friend who stood there awkwardly, staring at him. He narrowed his brows at her, feeling a tad uncomfortable, “Can I help you lass?”. She moved closer to him and he rested his hand on the hilt of his dagger that had Safina’s amulet, she tilted her head to look at it, then back up at him. When he looked at her he saw something that struck him, but she turned to leave, he grabbed her hand tugging her back, making the hood fall off, revealing honey colored hair. He gasped and turned her to face him, hoping with everything in his heart that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. There in front of him was a pair of the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. One a bright crystal blue and the other a rich chocolate brown, without thinking he closed the distance between them and cupped her face in his hands, kissing her forcefully. He felt her drag in a quick breath, then stopped kissing her to look at her again. “I thought you were dead lass, Mercer said that Karliah killed you. And I… I couldn't stand the thought of you lying there bleeding to death, alone. I couldn't imagine a life without you either, lass”. He saw her eyes start to water and he kissed her again, then whispered, “I love you too”, he took his time putting the amulet back around her neck where it belonged. It looked so beautiful on her he couldn't imagine seeing her without it. When they headed out of the vault Karliah had been waiting for them and he jumped, which was quickly followed by Safina’s chuckle. It was going to take him a while to get used to having Karliah in the Guild again. He noticed that tied to Safina’s belt was a new blade in its sheath, he recognized it, but couldn't put a name to it. “Brynjolf, the time has come to decide Mercer’s fate. Until a new Guild Master is chosen, the decision falls to you” he nodded and took pleasure in the thought of driving his blade through Mercer, he had earned that and much more for killing Gallus, stealing from the Guild and trying to kill Safina. “Aye, lass… I’ve come to a decision. Mercer Frey tried to kill both of you, he betrayed the Guild, murdered Gallus and made us question our future. He needs to die”, he shot a glance to Safina at the mention of their future, although he had partially intended it for the Guild, he had also meant his future with her. “We have to be very careful, Brynjolf. Mercer is a Nightingale, an agent of Nocturnal”, he remembered hearing about them when he was younger and looked back to the blade on Safina’s hip, he knew he recognized it. Gallus had worn it until he died, it was a Nightingale blade, “Then it's all true… everything I heard in the stories. The Nightingales, their allegiance to Nocturnal and the Twilight Sepulcher”. Karliah nodded as did Safina and he noted how close they were. ‘Of course they're close’ he told himself, ‘she only saved Safina’s life and went through God’s know what to convince them all that Mercer was a traitor’. He felt a newfound respect and sense of gratitude for the dark elf, she hadnt owed anything to Safina, yet she had saved her life and for that, he was grateful. “Yes. that's why we need to prepare ourselves and meet Mercer on equal footing. Just outside of Riften, beyond the southeast gate is a small path cut up the mountainside. At the end of that path is a clearing and an old standing stone. I’d ask you both to meet me there”. He nodded and Karliah left them in the cistern, Safina came to stand next to him and he smiled at her, “You know, I’m going to have to thank her, for bringing you back to me”. She smiled back at him and looked a little destitute, he frowned. “Bryn, I had wanted to come back much sooner, but Mercer… I was afraid that he told you that I betrayed you, that you would hate me…” he held her close to him and looked at her with as much conviction as he could muster. “Lass, I could never hate you, no matter what you do” she gave him a half smile and sighed, “Well, we should probably be on our way Karliah’s most likely almost there already, shes much faster than she looks”. He nodded and they left the cistern, through the trap door and made there way to the south eastern gate. They hadnt been walking on the path for more than twenty minutes when he heard people approaching, he unsheathed his sword and motioned for her to do the same. Standing in a defensive stance he heard them come out all at once, they were bandits, two large nord men, a khajiit, a redguard and a giant orc, who he guessed was their leader. “Well, well, well look what we have here boys, a thief ripe for the pickin’. And a beauty… she’ll be lots of fun to play with tonight”, the orc was the one who spoke and he felt a surge of rage, he curled his lip at them. “You wont get close enough to touch her!” he sneered between gritted teeth. The orc male tilted his head giving him a look that sent shivers down his spine, “Get ‘em boys”. Before he could prepare himself he was surrounded by the two nords and the khajiit while the orc went towards Safina and the redguard kept watch. He moved forwards to attack, but was taken off guard by the blow to his head from someone behind him, he watched as the orc overpowered Safina, helpless before everything went black. When he came to he found himself chained to a wall, his arms were above his head and he was in a sitting position, slumped over. He blinked a few times trying to get his eyes to adjust to the poorly lit bandit camp. There was a small breton male holding a lute, sitting on some barrels, his leg was chained to the wall behind him. Not far from him stood a khajiit woman, she wore fine clothes and had an air of nobility about her, yet she too was chained by her leg to the wall. Frantic to find Safina he looked around the open room they were in, there were about half a dozen bandits in fur and iron armor, drinking and laughing, but he couldn't find her. He was about to call out for her when he saw a figure lying on the floor, close to the middle of the room. He hadnt noticed her at first, but now she was stirring awake, his feeling of panic quickly turned to anger when he saw Safina, she was wearing a few small golden chains around her ankles like bracelets, he looked farther up to see a long, yet revealing skirt. It had barely been two pieces of soft deep red fabric covering only her front and her back, it was held together by more of the small golden chains that hung on her hip. Her stomach was mostly left bare and she had the same deep red fabric covering her breasts, but only barely, it hung low and draped between her breasts. She had golden arm bands on each arm, he couldn't deny that she looked beautiful, yet sultry. His feelings of lust, however were drowned out when his eyes met the metal collar around her neck, a chain hung on it connecting her to the orc chief’s hand, he clutched it possessively as if she were his toy and he wanted to slaughter him right there, before realizing he was stuck. “Come my pet. Dance for me” he felt nauseous as the orc tugged harshly at the chain, causing Safina to stumble forward and fall, before getting back on her feet. The orc chief nodded to the breton who started strumming a beautiful tune he wasn't accustomed to. As the rhythm started to pick up the khajiit began to sing her native songs, her voice was like silver moonlight and for a moment took Brynjolf to a far away place before he heard the rattle of chains once more and saw Safina collapse. “I said dance, wench!” she cried out in pain as he whipped her open back. “Don't you touch her!” he yelled with a rage he couldn't quench and she looked at him sympathetically, she had only just noticed that he was there. She kept her gaze on him and stood defiantly, the music kept playing and she mouthed to him ‘don't worry’, feeling uneasy, but much less frantic he watched as she started to sway her hips. Her dancing grew faster as the song went on, she began to move her feet and use her hands to rub her body. She seemed fluid and her moves were more alluring than anything he had ever seen, as the song grew in tempo she moved faster, raising her hands above her, twirling them femininely, before rubbing the skin of her neck and breasts once more. He sat up straighter, intently watching her, it was as if it were only the two of them, nothing else in that room mattered to him. He never knew she could move like that and he was determined to watch her dance for the rest of the night, as she kept moving she looked over to him, shooting a seductive stare at him through her lashes. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing grew unstable, but before he could do or say anything the chain around her neck was harshly tugged again as she fell into the lap of the orc. He was brought back to the present roughly and he glared daggers at the orc, who didn't seem to care. He held Safina on his lap kissing her neck as she struggled to get away from his grasp, fire burned inside him seeing her being used like that, touched by another man. He wanted to get up, break his chains, destroy the orc chief and everyone else there, but he was stuck. She was gagged with a cloth they tied around her head and the orc grabbed her arm leading her to the wall, “You are the most sultry wench I have ever had, you probably made a lot of men your slave didn't you, you whore” he glanced menacingly over to Brynjolf making it clear to him that the chief only saw him as her toy, he clenched his jaw and made fists, making his knuckles turn white. The large orc took one of Safina’s breasts in his hand forcefully and she had whimpered, a few tears rolled down her cheeks, he stood enraged, and pulled with all of his force on the chains that kept him from her. “I’ll rip you apart!” he shouted at the chief with such malice it made his throat hoarse, he gazed at Safina who only looked sad, defeated, her eyes darted to the ground and stayed there as the orc walked her off, to some other part of the large room.

Safina lay in the dark room on the cold stone floor, unable to move, her collar now gone, but her hands were tied behind her. She was unable to call out for Bryn or to use her shout. It had been so long since she had used one a part of her wondered if she even could anymore, as she lay there she heard the orc approaching again and she stiffened, not wanting to be his toy anymore. “Now I’m going to show you what a true man can do”, fear coursed through her as he grabbed her, picking her up and leading her to a pile of fur blankets. She struggled, but he grabbed her arms and tied them to a post above her head, she bit the cloth in her mouth hard wanting to scream out but unable to do so. As the orc above her started to take off the belt to his trousers she tried desperately to get her hands free, as he was preoccupied she managed to loosen the bonds on her wrists and slipped a hand out, reaching for a nearby iron dagger. She knew he would only be distracted for a short time so she held it tight in her hand trying to conceal it before slipping her hand back into the bind, once he loosened his belt and threw it to the floor, he slipped off his cuirass and she couldn't help but stare at him. He stood at least seven feet tall, perhaps more, his chest, shoulders and arms were bulging with muscles and she counted at least twelves scars marring his body. She looked to his dark eyes to see him gazing at her lithe body with a dark hunger swirling in his gaze, “Oh, I’m going to have so much fun with you” he leaned over her and kissed her neck roughly leaving a soft bruise in its wake, she whimpered softly. He stood back up, slightly amused with himself and she saw a large bulge growing in his trousers, he pulled them down and tossed them aside, letting his large cock spring free. She swallowed hard knowing there was now way it would fit in her without tearing her up before remembering the dagger in her hand. He laughed at her maniacally and pulled the skirt off of her leaving her bare, a rumble sounded in his throat that made her shrink and pull her legs together. He gripped her thighs tearing her legs apart and came over her, she waited for the right moment and when he crawled up to her and kissed her neck again she slipped her hand out of the binds once more gripping the hilt of the dagger tightly she took her hand pack positioning it, with a loud growl she sunk the dagger into his shoulder and a cry of pain and rage escaped his throat, she quickly slipped the skirt back on, no longer wanting to be exposed. He got off of her quickly and she took her other hand out, standing not far from him she took the cloth from her mouth and curled her lip. He stumbled back, grabbing the dagger in his shoulder, pulling it from his skin, then put his trousers back on. He glared at her and growled, “You bitch! You're going to pay for that”. Unarmed and filled with fear he grabbed her arm tight pulling her back into the main room, “Let her go you bastards!” she heard Brynjolf call, still chained to the wall on the other side of the room, the other bandits gathered to watch and he threw her to the floor hard, scraping the skin on her right arm making her wince. The bandit chief marched over to Brynjolf to glare at him, “Make sure this one watches when I kill his whore”, he had ordered his goons and they nodded. She looked up with sadness in her eyes to see Brynjolf being held by two other bandits forcing him to watch her, with a look of panic. “I love you”, she had managed to say before the orc came back to her. He put his gigantic hand around her neck, clenching it hard causing her to choke and picked her up off of the ground, pinning her to a nearby wall. She could see Brynjolf struggling to get free, “Please, please let her go, have me instead”, tears were welling in his eyes and she could see the unmistakable look of fear in them as she dangled there in the orcs hand. She swallowed hard trying to get breath, kicking her feet she tried to get free, but it was no use. She looked into the orcs eyes to see malicious amusement in them and she could feel the dragon soul in her stirring awake. She felt her blood boil and a flame reached her eyes, for a split second she was sure she could see fear hit the orcs eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. She smiled at him, her hands trying to pull his hand from her throat, “You better hope you're fireproof”. He looked confused and was about to say something, but closed his mouth. Her grin grew as she opened her mouth letting the dragon within her to be set free as she shouted, “YOL TOOR SHUL”. The bandit chief along with a couple other bandits nearby were engulfed with flames, letting out a few cries of pain before collapsing, dead. She fell to the ground and took a few deep breaths before realizing the other bandits had gathered around her with their weapons drawn, she stood looking at them, the dragon inside her now set free. She smirked and ran to the table next to her that had her sword and grabbed a few lockpicks tossing them to Brynjolf who quickly grabbed them working on his chains. Two of the bandits closest to her charged and she ducked dodging the first one’s swing of his axe and lifted her blade deflecting the second bandits strike and a loud ‘clang’ rang out. She pushed the bandit back, noticing four more bandits crowd her, she stood in a defensive stance readying a flame spell in one hand and gripping the hilt of her blade in the other. All at once the bandit farthest back had a blade tear through his middle, then collapsed to reveal Brynjolf standing in an offensive stance, a fire burned in his emerald eyes and he let out a fierce battle cry before charging the bandits around her. She did the same, wanting desperately to be with him, she was able to dispatch the first bandit quickly by slicing through his knee, making him kneel on the ground, then she sliced his chest causing him to collapse on the ground blood pooling. She caught of Brynjolf fighting off two other bandits and rushed to his side, but was cut off by a large nord bandit, she growled at him and charged, her blade held out to her side. She leapt into the air and came crashing down on the bandit, her blade slicing through his neck and shoulder and he fell with a ‘thud’. She turned to find Brynjolf by her side, he had killed one of the bandits that had surrounded them, leaving only two to stand against them. She leaned back to Brynjolf and whispered, “Are you ready to make them bleed?” she smirked evilly and he turned his head to look at her with an equally evil smile and nodded. They both let out a battelcry and charged the last two bandits with ferocity, her opponent met her strike with his own blade and she snarled at him, he pushed her back making her stumble and she tripped over a body of one of the other bandits falling, dropping her blade away from her. She crawled backwards, the bandit advancing toward her trying desperately to find another weapon and found an axe close to another body, she quickly grasped it as he swung at her. She blocked it with her new weapon and sent a flame spell at him, causing him to take a few steps back so she could stand. Brynjolf had been holding off his opponent, but he had on no cuirass and it left his torso exposed, she rushed to him as the bandit he had been fighting swung with a force that knocked the blade from his hand and prepared for another swing. She dashed towards Brynjolf and crouched low, sliding on the ground between his legs, slicing the bandits calves. He had cried out in pain, but still stood with his weapon in hand and she heard the other bandit approach, turning to Brynjolf she tossed him her axe and ran for her Nightingale blade she dropped earlier. Once she had it she finished off the bandit she had cut earlier and pivoted to see Brynjolf fighting the last bandit, he had blocked one of the khajiits swings but didn't move his blade fast enough to block the second swing and was sliced on his side, she heard him cry out in pain and curse with anger. “Bryn!” she cried and he had turned to look at her, she ran to him, but saw the khajiit preparing for a final blow, she wasn't fast enough. Worry spread through her, her heart raced and the dragon within her screamed out “WULD NAH KEST”, the shout quickened her feet and within a blink she was between the khajiit and Brynjolf, her sword blocking the khajiit’s final blow. She had sensed Brynjolf behind her lift his blade and knowing the khajiit wasn't prepared she ducked, watching as Brynjolf swung hard with the axe in his hand landing in the chest of the khajiit and he fell to the ground. No longer surrounded by bandits and feeling safe she turned to see Brynjolf doubled over holding his wound and panting loudly. She bent down to him, “Bryn, are you ok? Move your hand so I can heal you” he didn't say anything but he nodded to her, removing his hand from his wound, revealing a deep gash. She gasped and swallowed the rage within her, she readied a healing spell, lettingits golden light swarm his bleeding wound, she felt a wave of relief as she saw it close up before her eyes revealing a soft pink scar in its wake. She let out a sigh of relief when she had stopped the spell, she let her eyes drift over his body and she bit her lip softly before looking up to his face. He had a smirk on his lips that made her heart pound in her chest, she swallowed and admired his roguish features before looking to his eyes. He was looking at her through his lashes and she was taken aback, her breath catching in her throat, the look he had soon vanished and was replaced by rage, “Lass, are you alright, when I saw that orc brute holding you there like that something in me broke. Please tell me he didn't…” he left the subject open, not able to speak the words and she shook her head softly. “No Bryn, he didn't do anything with me… but he came close, I’m just glad you're ok” she had a solemn tone in her voice and looked back to his new scar, she smiled. “Hey look Bryn, we match now” she pointed to the scar Mercer had given to her and he furrowed his brows, “Mercer is going to pay for everything he’s done, to Gallus, to Karliah, to you, to all of us. We should get to Karliah, no doubt she’s wondering where we are, it's probably past night fall already”. He stalked off to get his cuirass back on, strapping his daggers back to his chest, she did the same. Before they left the god’s forsaken bandit camp they let the other captives go free who thanked them and went on their way. She and Brynjolf walked, muscles sore, to where Karliah had been waiting for them, eager to make Mercer pay for his betrayal.


	5. Mercer's demise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that I posted the last chapter in the wrong order quest wise, sorry

It had been a long night of walking and Brynjolf was keenly aware of Safina gazing at him, they were almost at the standing stone Karliah had mentioned, it was just visible in the moon’s light over the horizon. He heard a long sigh from behind him and stopped, turning to see Safina staring at the ground, “Everything alright lass?”. The look of sadness on her face tugged at his heart and made him want to do everything in his power to make her happy. She looked back up at him in thought and he wondered what she could be thinking about that would leave her this distressed. His thoughts drifted to the events at the bandit camp just hours before and rage flowed through him again before he heard Safina’s voice break into his thoughts. “It's just that… I’m tired of this life Bryn, constantly fighting to survive, it's why I faked my death in the first place… I love being with you and stealing things”, she paused as a mischievous smile split her soft plump lips before continuing. “But, I miss having a normal life, I miss my ma. And I told her the day she died I would find my da so I could be close to someone again, but its been over seven years since I came to Skyrim and I still haven't found him”. She dropped her gaze looking sad once more and he closed the distance between them, holding her in his arms. “I promise you lass, I personally will scour the ends of Nirn looking for your father after we take care of Mercer”, he kissed her gently on the forehead and she smiled at him. “Thank you Bryn, I don't know what I would do without you. We should probably keep going though, I’m sure Karliah is having a blast waiting for us in the cold” he chuckled at that vision and watched as she took off ahead of him, admiring her swaying hips as she left, determined to get her into his bed as soon as they returned to the guild. Once at the standing stone Karliah turned to shoot them with an irritable glare, “By the God’s Bryn, you both look like hell. What happened?” he heard Safina groan beside him and thought that it was an apt response, “It would take us longer than needed to explain. How about we just do this so we can get what we need to kill Mercer, eh?”. Karliah nodded and the three of them headed inside what he assumed to be the Nightingale hall. Once inside he looked around to see a barely lit fortress that looked to be abandoned for years, the walls were cracked, cobwebs took over mostly everything and in some places the roof had even caved in. all in all, he was in awe, “So this is Nightingale hall. I heard about this place when I joined the Guild, but I never believed it existed”. He saw Karliah stop to look at him with deep amethyst eyes clouded with sorrow and he guessed that she had been thinking of Gallus, his heart went out to her for a moment because he understood what it was like. Thinking that Safina had been killed had torn his world apart, but he was lucky for the fact that she came back to him. “The assumption that the Nightingale’s were just a myth was seeded within the Guild on purpose. It helped avert attention from our true nature.” he furrowed his brows in confusion, not exactly knowing what he was doing there, he wasn't in the least bit religious not even in the Divines, “What’s wrong, Brynjolf? I can almost hear your brow furrowing”. He looked at her, then Safina who looked in awe of the place, “I’m trying to understand why I’m here, lass. I’m no priest, and I’m certainly not religious. Why pick me?” Karliah gave him a look similar to that of an impatient parent and he almost shrunk back, embarrassed with himself. “This isn't about religion, Brynjolf… its business. This is Nightingale hall. You're the first of the uninitiated to set foot inside in over a century. Now, if you'll both proceed to the armory to don your Nightingale armor, we can begin the oath”. He just nodded and saw Safina looking at him with an eager expression, obviously wanting to run off and explore the ruins, he smiled at her loving the way she made every part of him feel alive again. “Why don't you go ahead, lass. I’m going to speak with Karliah, I’ll catch up in a bit”, she cocked a brow then glanced over at the dark elf who just nodded back, getting the message he had been trying to convey without Safina catching on. She just shrugged and walked off down the path, strolling into a few rooms on her way to the armory.

Safina had found a few valuable things in the rooms she had checked, some coins and unread books, most of it was junk though. Every few minutes she’d toss a glance to Brynjolf who was deep in conversation with Karliah and she had briefly wondered what it was they were talking about before coming to a stop at three odd looking stones in the middle of a platform, ‘hmm, curious’, she thought to herself. She cautiously approached the stone in the middle, as she grew closer it let off an unusual hum and she was drawn to its otherworldly melody. Without realizing it, she had placed her hand on the stone, the buzzing grew louder and she felt a cool mist envelope her, it wasn't scary or dangerous, it was more like it was a part of her. Once the buzzing had stopped she realized that she was no longer in her Guild armor, instead she was wearing tight, form fitting black leather armor. It hadnt been tough or constricting like most leather armor, it felt almost as if she were wearing nothing, every move she made was silent and she realized she had a hood and mask back on, almost all of her felt as if it was wrapped in shadow. Similar buzzing noises sounded beside her on each side, to her right was Karliah, she was briefly encompassed by a deep black mist, when it cleared she donned the same armor looking more lithe than she ever had before. She looked to her left to see Bryn blanketed by a deeper mist, when it cleared she marveled at the man before her, the armor looked as if it was made by the divine’s themselves specifically and only for him. The leather clung to his body, accentuating each and every muscle, rippling beneath the leather with each move he made, she bit her lip with want, making it sore and took comfort in the fact that it was shielded by her mask. “Okay, lass. We've got these get-ups on… now what?”, Bryn stood next to her, his arm barely touching hers and she took note of how even his steps made no noise, despite his bulky frame. “Beyond this gate is the first step in becoming a Nightingale”, Karliah shifted and gestured towards the gate at the end of the hall and Bryn stepped forward. “Woah there, lass. I appreciate the armor, but becoming a Nightingale? That was never discussed”, he looked visibly distressed and she understood why, it was true neither of them had told him outright that this would be their leverage above Mercer, it was never fully discussed with her either, but she figured that it was implied enough. “To hold any hope of defeating Mercer, we must have Nocturnal at our backs. If she’s to accept you as one of her own, an arrangement must be struck”. He just folded his arms across his chest once more, as he usually did, “What sort of arrangement, I need to know the terms”. Karliah sighed as if impatient with him again and she had to hold back a laugh, “The terms are quite simple, Brynjolf. Nocturnal will allow you to become a Nightingale and use your ability for whatever you wish. and in return, both in life and in death, you must serve as a guardian of the Twilight Sepulcher”. Safina had similar dealings like that in the past, she was no stranger to Daedric deals, Molag bal, Sheogorath, Hircine and even Clavicus all had wanted to claim her, but her soul truly belonged to her creator, in a certain way her father, of her soul anyway, the chief deity Akatosh. “Aye, there's always a catch. But at this point, I suppose there isn't much to lose. If it means the end of Mercer Frey, you can count me in”, he had directed the last bit to her and she almost blushed, there was no doubt in her mind that he loved her, but to go so far as to make a Daedric deal, took more devotion than she thought he would do. She shook her head, he was doing this for more than just her, it was also for Gallus, for himself and of course for the Guild, his family, their family. Karliah looked to her with a questioning gaze and Safina knew what she was asking even without the use of words and she nodded at the dark elf conveying to her that she had no intentions of backing out now. The dark elf pulled the chain lifting the metal gate and the three of them took their places on each of the stone bridges in the next room, if they hadnt been in a hurry to put an end to Mercer she might have stopped to enjoy the scene. “I call upon you Lady Nocturnal, Queen of Murk and Empress of Shadow… hear my voice”, Karliah’s serene voice rang out throughout the cavern and at that moment she saw a similar mass of deep light appear, a voice unlike any other rang out, but she soon realized that this voice wasn't aloud like the one now speaking to Karliah and brynjolf it was in her own head. “I have been watching you for some time now, mortal. You hold great potential and I look forward to see what you do in these days to come”. She realized that the voice in her head was Nocturnal talking to just her, ‘Alright, is there anything else I should know. Perhaps some unspoken catch to this arrangement that I wont find out about ‘till after I do your bidding’. She heard a deep feminine chuckle in her head that sent shivers through her, “Interesting, indeed. We shall see, mortal. For now follow your fellow Nightingale’s”. She blinked focusing on the surroundings around her to find the great ball of light now gone and Bryn and Karliah stood in the middle stone waiting for her. She shook herself and joined them to hear Karliah sheepishly say, “Now that you've transacted the oath, its time to reveal the final piece of the puzzle to you; Mercer’s true crime”. She and Bryn both exchanged a glance before he spoke what was in her head, “He’s done more, lass?”, Karliah nodded, almost ashamed with herself. “Mercer was able to unlock the Guild’s vault without two keys because of what he stole from the Twilight Sepulcher… the Skeleton Key. by doing this, has compromised our ties to Nocturnal and in essence, caused our luck to run dry”.

Brynjolf listened intently as Karliah explained to them what the Skeleton Key was and all of the abilities it could unlock, for a moment he understood why Mercer would have taken it. The promise of an unlimited source of wealth and power was enticing, but he needed to pay for these new crimes as well as all of the others. Safina looked thoughtful for a bit before stating something along the lines of, “It sounds like no one should have something like that”, he agreed for the most part, as did Karliah. She continued to talk to Safina about the key and a thought occurred to him, he watched Safina intently, just in a matter of 48 hours he had learned she was alive again just to watch her almost be taken from him again. He couldn't take it anymore, loving her, feeling that as if at any moment he was going to lose her, he couldn't handle not being in control of himself any longer. He felt as if everything was a threat to take her away, and in truth he would gladly dispatch any threat for her, even if it meant the end of him, he would walk through the planes of oblivion for her. At that moment she approached him and he could see the glint of a smile in her eyes as she barely tilted her head to the side, “What’s on your mind, Bryn?” he thought about it for a moment, trying to think of a good enough lie for her. “Just thinking about what our next move to find Mercer should be. We should head back to Riften”. She nodded and they all left back for the Guild together, the short trip hadnt taken more than an hour and they still had hours for sleep left. Too tired to attempt to bed Safina once they arrived in the cistern, he nodded to some of the other Guild members, taking off his Nightingale armor except for his trousers and climbed into his welcoming bed. He awoke feeling like he was being watched, as he sat up in his bed he saw that he was in a large dark field, surrounded by thick, black fog. He stood up on the dry grass hearing it crack beneath his steps, turning to see the bed vanish, he wondered where he was when a familiar voice broke into his thoughts, “I see great promise for you Nightingale”. He saw a tall female approaching him through the mist with crows perched on her shoulders at once he recognized the hooded figure as Nocturnal, he stood stiff, one Daedric appearance had been enough for him, but he drew a line when it came to his dreams. He clenched his jaw and heard her humph from where she gracefully floated in front of him, “Do not mistake my interest in your future for interest in you, I simply wish to see you fulfill your destiny with Safina. You two have something ahead of you that my brothers and I are looking forward to”, a look shadowed in her eyes that made him very uncomfortable and he cocked a brow. “What do you mean? What’s in our future?” she let out a dark chuckle that made him want to shudder, but instead he stood still. “Something, mortal, that you will know soon enough.” with that she vanished and he awoke in his bed in the cistern, drenched in a cold sweat. It was well past sunrise and a few of the other Guild members were still in their beds, he sighed and rubbed his face slowly, running his hands through his hair, which now reached the bottom of his jaw. He sat with his feet hanging over the side of the bed to put on his boots, ‘what had she meant by “interested in our future”, could she be talking about Mercer. But she didn't mention Karliah, just him and Safina’. He furrowed his brows in confusion finishing the last buckles on his boots, he shook his head slowly and let out another sigh. He hated the vague clues she gave him, but he turned his thoughts back to Mercer and finding out what their next step should be. He stood putting his Nightingale cuirass back on, but leaving the hood, as he thought he remembered a house Mercer had, but he never really stayed in, if there were to be clues as to his whereabouts; it would be there. He found Safina in the flagon with Karliah and Vex discussing their long journey back to the Guild, once Safina had caught sight of him he saw her eyes light up and a soft smile split her lips, he smirked back and approached Vekel. “Ah, Vekel, what's on the menu?” the man behind the bar smiled at him in greeting and tossed him a plate of eggs, venison sausage, beans and a couple slices of bread. He took the plate gratefully, tossing a few coins to the man who had been their loyal barkeep and chef for years, before taking a seat at a table near Safina and Karliah. As he ate he was approached by Niruin who looked rather upset about something, inwardly he rolled his eyes as he swallowed the mouthful of sausage and egg he had before encountering all the problems of the day. He hated being temporary guild master and had even talked to Karliah about asking Safina if she wanted the position. She was almost meant for it, she was a natural leader, not to mention that she practically single handedly brought the Guild up from its shithole. Karliah had agreed wholeheartedly, and now it was only a matter of asking the lass himself. “So as you know, Bryn. with Mercer gone and all, some of us were wondering who was going to be the new Guild Master”, he didn't bother to look up at Niruin as he finished his interrupted breakfast, he just sat back in his chair with his arms across his chest and his feet resting on the table. “You know Niruin, I hadnt even thought of that. Maybe you should be the new Guild Master”, he had made his sarcasm painfully obvious as he looked at Niruin, who clearly didn't hear it. His elven ears perked up and a bright smile split his thin lips, “Really?”, his voice almost cracked with surprise and Brynjolf had to keep himself from scoffing at him as he narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “No, Niruin. Now tell the others that I have someone in mind and I’ll address it once Mercer is actually dealt with, and get back to work”, Niruin had mumbled something under his breath as he stalked off. “Well, I’d ask what that was about, but you might bite my head off too”, he jumped as he heard Safina’s soft voice sound behind him before she sat across from him at his table. “Oh, I’m sorry you had to hear that lass, But I’m glad you're here there's actually a few things I wanted to ask you” she raised her brows slightly, looking interested and he sat up straight in his chair. “Pray tell, Bryn. what is it?”, she leaned forward resting her elbows on the table in front of her, setting her chin on her hands. The look of her before him almost made him cough out a laugh, “As you know, lass, the Guild is in need of a new Guild Master. Karliah and I discussed it and we both agreed that you should be the one to take Mercer’s place, once he pays for what he’s done of course”. Her look of surprise hit him immediately and she almost exclaimed, “Me? What about you? Bryn, you've been here much longer than I have and so far you've done great as Guild Master”, he shook his head. “No, lass, I’m not one for leading. I don’t want to anyways, I like what I do and I’m good at it, especially if it means I get to stay behind you”, he smirked at her and she folded her arms, cocking a brow. “Well, I see where your mind is. Alright, Bryn, but only after Mercer is dealt with and I better get a party… with a LOT of mead and ale”. He laughed at her, then remembered what his second question was, his tone grew more serious now, “I think I know where we could find Mercer, he has a house here in Riften-”, before he could even finish talking her soft voice broke through, “He has a house in Riften?”. He nodded, “Aye, a gift from the Black-Briars after they kicked the previous family out… place called Riftweald Manor. He never stays there, just pays for the upkeep on it. Hired some lout by the name of Vald to guard the place, and I need someone to break in, see if he left any clues behind”, almost immediately she blurted, “I’ll take care of it”. He shook his head, wanting anyone but her in that dreadful place, but knew that arguing with her on it would only waste time. He sighed, every part of him yelling at him to make anyone else go, “Be careful, lass. This is the last place in Skyrim I’d ever want to send you. Just find a way in, get the information and leave. Kill anyone who gets in the way”. She nodded and as she left he had wanted to call her back, make someone else go in her stead, but thought better of it and enjoyed how her leather trousers grabbed her arse tightly as she took each step. He smiled to himself and began the waiting for her return, if there was anything in the world he hated it was the waiting. He waited for what seemed like days, but in reality had only been a few hours before he heard the door to the flagon swing open and Safina angrily charged in. when she came closer to him he could see a bruise illuminated under her left eye and another closer to the right side of her jaw, a cut split her beautiful, golden, bottom lip and he stood from his chair, ale in hand, furiously. “Lass, what happened to you? Are you ok?”, when she was close enough to him he put his hand on the bottom of her chin gently and lifted her face so he could see her more clearly, but she moved her face from him and shrugged, throwing her palm on the table with a crumpled piece of paper under it. For a moment he was brought back to the first job she ever did, and how she had gotten the one thing none of the other Guild members could. “Mercer, son of a bitch, had at least five hired thugs in there. Tried to hide his plans with a bunch of booby traps, like that would stop the greatest Guild in all of Tamriel”, she shot him a wink and he smirked half-heartedly looking at the plans before him that simply read “Eyes of the Falmer”. He nodded over to Karliah who was talking to some of the other Guild members, she nodded to them, then made her way over to look at the plans with him. “He’s going after the Eyes of the Falmer, Gallus’ pet project. If he gets his hands on them, you can be certain he’ll be gone for good and set up for life”. Karliah looked thoughtful and Safina was still fuming, making him slightly uncomfortable and keenly aware of how he was in shouting distance from her. “Then we have to stop him”, she stated matter of factly and Karliah nodded stepping forward, “Agreed. He’s taken everything the Guild has left, and to go after one of the last greatest heists is just an insult”. He noted how the dark elf looked slightly hurt and he understood why, this heist was Gallus’ dream and now Mercer was basically adding insult to injury. “Ok, so we will head out to Irkngthand, and hopefully stop him before he leaves Skyrim and we lose him for good”, now he had turned to look at Safina to see her anger had subsided and she looked almost as if fire burned in her eyes, she had a mission to complete, and from the look in her eyes, she would die before she let Mercer get away again and he felt the same way.

The journey to Irkngthand had been slow, long and un-eventful, but Safina could see the towering Dwemer construction vastly approaching and with it the multitude of bandits outside. She was itching for a battle and by the looks of it, so were her fellow Nightingales, Karliah had taken her Nightingale bow off her back and Brynjolf had crouched down, unsheathing the twin daggers from his chest. She crouched low and unsheathed her own dagger, nodding to the both of them, Karliah hung behind with her bow, while Brynjolf followed closely behind her. As she came under a collapsed Dwemer tower, passing through it, approaching the odd Dwemer stairs, that had no steps, she came up slowly behind a bandit that had been drinking an ale. She grabbed him abruptly placing her hand over his mouth, quickly letting her blade tear through his soft throat. Another bandit was quickly approaching and Brynjolf snuck past her in a flash, grabbing the bandit who let out a surprised gasp. Before he could send a warning to his friends Brynjolf let one of his daggers sink into the bandit’s neck, before dropping him with a ‘thud’. As she and Brynjolf went slowly up the stairs, Karliah followed by a distance taking out a bandit who had been sitting in a chair at the top of the stairs with an arrow through the female argonians chest. She nodded gratefully to the dark elf behind them, then turned back to their task, quickly dispatching a sleeping bandit while Brynjolf had cut down one who was patrolling the area. As they continued, they made their way to a makeshift set of stairs, of sorts, they had made it almost all the way to the top when a bandit who was crouching in a dark corner had spotted them, alerting the bandit chief who had been sleeping. Upon hearing the alert the large bandit chief, in heavy steel armor stood up unsheathing a doublehanded orcish warhammer that had blood stains of his previous victims. “Shit”, she heard Brynjolf exclaim behind her as Karliah let loose an arrow between the eyes of the bandit who had found them, quickly putting an end to her life. Their position now compromised, the three of them had stood with weapons drawn to approach the large man, who made Brynjolf look small by comparison. Brynjolf had been the first to reach the menacing bandit, he swung at the bandit with a force she had rarely seen and she appreciated Brynjolf in a new way. The bandit had blocked his hit easily and even pushed him back a few paces, Karliah let loose another arrow from a distance, before moving closer, but still staying at a safe distance. The arrow had bounced off the armor with a loud metallic, ‘ting’ and Safina almost gasped as it went whizzing past her head. Her attention snapped to the bandit when she saw him approaching her, he prepared a swing of his malicious warhammer and Safina prepared herself, as he let the large hammer swing towards her neck, she caught a quick glimpse of Brynjolf coming up behind the bandit, for a split second their eyes met, he had no worry in them for her this time, just the fire of battle and that made her own fire light up inside her. As the hammer was about to collide with her throat she ducked low to the ground, feeling the rush of air as it ‘whooshed’ over her head and was quickly followed by the battle cry of Brynjolf. She listened as she heard both of his daggers collide with the bandits neck, sending out a sickening ‘crunch’ as his spine was severed and he collapsed. She stood up to see Brynjolf panting, daggers still out and his eyes still aflame, his mask and armor had been splattered with blood and if she didn't know that it was him she might have been afraid. She was glad when she heard Karliah approaching them, placing a gentle hand on Bryn’s back, “It’s alright now Bryn. let’s head inside and put an end to Mercer once and for all”. He nodded and sheathed his daggers once more, “Everything alright with you Bryn?”, she had almost been afraid to ask him, not wanting a harsh answer. “Yes, lass I’m fine. I’m just not gonna sit back anymore and worry about losing you, if were ever in that situation, which I know we will be. I’m putting an end to the threat before it has the chance to even touch you”, she felt a hot blush creep to her cheeks and she smiled to herself as they entered the building before them. As soon as they entered there were more bandits laying broken and crumpled on the main floor, she heard Karliah in front of her mumble Mercer’s name with disgust and she knew why. They had made it through most of the large ruins without much more than a Dwemer construction, or a falmer, until they reached a large opening that was gated in by large golden bars. Far in the middle they saw a small figure making his through the building and Karliah rushed forward, closely followed by Brynjolf, “Wait a moment… what’s that? It’s Mercer! Look… down there!” her voice was elevated beyond her usual tone, she sounded frantic. “I’m on it, lass. Damn it! There’s no way through”, he sounded frustrated and while they were both frantic she looked around trying to find a way through letting them fret to themselves. Eventually she found a lever to her left, she had seen these puzzles before, she quickly made her way to the second lever pulling it in time to open the gate below them. As they made their way down they took out a few Falmer who were feeling a little too curious before moving on. Making their way into the next chamber, Safina stopped abruptly, the dragon inside of her telling her something was wrong, she stuck her hand out, stopping Brynjolf from passing her, he shot her a wary glance, before she felt what set her on edge. The ground started to rumble as she saw a large tower start to crumble as it fell to the ground with an earth shattering ‘crash’. She saw Brynjolf blink,trying to comprehend something, he turned to her looking grateful. “Thank you, lass”, she nodded as she heard Karliah speak up behind them, “the only reason to do that would be to block pursuit. It must be Mercer. We’ll have to find another way around”. Karliah passed them slowly, leaving her and Bryn to look confused, “Mercer was able to knock this thing down? God’s…”. She agreed with Brynjolf, if the key gave someone that much power, then it just cemented her decision to return the damn thing. As they continued on they had passed a dwarven centurion, managing to sneak past it without waking the damnable thing, but not before Brynjolf made his observations about it, making her smile. When they made it to the slave pens they had come across the stench of Falmer, making their way to the hive, they had managed to sneak past most of them. Aside from the few stragglers, none of them had been a problem, as they approached what they assumed was the last door Karliah spoke up again, “He’s close. I’m certain of it. We must prepare ourselves”. She and Brynjolf nodded, “Then this is it, we do this for Gallus and for the Guild”, his tone had been resounding and she felt the wave of revenge vastly approaching as they passed through the door. They were on a ledge in a large room with a giant snow elf statue at the far end, Mercer was on the head of the large representation, he already had one of the eyes as he worked on the second. “He’s here and he hasn't seen us yet. Brynjolf, watch the door”, he nodded briefly “Aye lass, nothing’s gettin’ by me” Kalriah then approached the ledge slowly, “I’ll see if I can-”. “Karliah when will you learn you can't get the drop on me”, Mercer’s voice rang out through the large cavern as she felt another rumble, the ledge giving way and Karliah falling to the bottom. She and Brynjolf were about to rush to her when Mercer spoke again, “I finally get to deal with you Karliah, but first you can watch your little companions kill each other”. She furrowed her brows in confusion, she would never hurt Brynjolf, what did that idiot think he was talking about, just then she heard Brynjolf grunt as he moved towards her, daggers drawn. “What’s… what’s happening… I can't stop myself… lass!”, she backed herself to a wall, worried, “Fight it Brynjolf, please. This isn't you”. He shook his head trying to stop himself as he came closer to her, his hands shaking with the effort, “I’m sorry, lass. I… I can't”. Her eyes grew in panic and she unsheathed her own dagger, worried for her safety and for Brynjolf’s as she prayed for Karliah to take down Mercer quickly. He slashed at her with force and she managed to block his hit with her dagger, but forgot about his second as it sliced her arm. She let out a yelp of pain and saw him wince as he pinned her to the wall with his dagger to her throat, dropping her own below her, his eyes were clouded with pain and she could see the conflict swirling in them. “Lass, there’s no way we're both getting out of this alive-” she grabbed his arm trying to pull it from her throat dreading the words that were coming from his lips as she exclaimed, “No! Bryn I am not going to kill you. We can get out of this I can get us out of this”. She saw his expression fill with sympathy as his hands shook tremendously with the effort he had to not kill her, “I would want no one else to bring me to the gates of Sovngarde than you, lass”. She swallowed the lump that rose in her throat as she felt the dragon in her make her blood boil, ‘No! No, I can do this! I can save us both please don't take him!’. “ZUN HAAL VIIK”, she felt the words burst through her lips and a feeling of relief wash over her as his daggers were thrown to the ground far below them. It didn't do much to stop Brynjolf though, now his large hands clenched around her throat and no amount of shouts could save her now as she felt her breath leave her. She looked to Bryn to see his eyes clouded with grief and horror and tears threatened to spill out as she heard him whisper, “Please, lass. Please stop me, I cant live without you. I’ll never forgive myself”. She swallowed what felt like flames and turned her head to see Karliah struggling with Mercer, tears fell down her cheeks. She saw Mercer throw her from the arm of the statue and noticed then that the place had been flooding as she fell to a pool of water. Mercer then turned invisible as Karliah got back up, she looked around frantically before she notched an arrow into her bow and she heard her exclaim, “This is for Gallus”. The arrow flew through the sky finding its mark in Mercer’s chest who had been standing on the statues head, he now fell, dead, into the freezing water below. Her gaze was brought back to Brynjolf as his hands fell from her throat and he took a few steps back, she collapsed on the stone floor beneath her, coughing and sucking in air, sending a silent prayer of thanks to the Divines. She felt Brynjolf gently lift her to her feet then hold her tightly, “I’m so, so sorry, lass. I never would have done that if Mercer hadnt made me-”. She let out a few more coughs and held him back, just glad that he was ok, “It’s ok, Bryn, really. I’m fine and Mercer is dead, it's all over”. He took off his hood and mask to reveal streaks on his face where the tears fell, her hood had fallen off when she fell, but now he ripped her mask off and took her lips in a hot, wet kiss. She melted into him as their tongues explored each other’s mouths, he lifted a hand to cup her face and with the other he pulled at her waist making her chest collide with his. She put her hands behind his neck, playing with his soft, dark auburn hair. When they had stopped, they noticed that the water had almost reached their feet and they hurried to meet Karliah who had been standing there staring at the water, tears falling into the pools below. “It’s over, Gallus didn't die for nothing. I got the key and the eyes, but there’s no way out of here”. Safina felt a feeling of dread overcome her as she looked around, realizing she was right, as they waited for the water to take them, it had almost reached the top of the cavern when another rumble went through the cavern and a series of rockfalls fell into the water to reveal a hidden cave. They climbed into it heaving with the effort they had just been through, they made their way through the small cave back out to the Dwemer building, nearing an exit they all stopped and Karliah approached her, giving her the Skeleton Key, “I cant believe its over. Twenty-five years in exile and just like that, it's done. All that remains is to ensure the safe return of the Skeleton Key”. She took the key and the eyes from Karliah gratefully before turning back to Brynjolf, “Go back to the Guild, they’ll need you. I wont be more than a week, I’ll be back as soon as I can”. She gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before he nodded and headed out with Karliah, she followed at a distance, preparing for the journey before her.


	6. The Guild's new Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the key is returned and Safina get's promoted, but sex wasn't one of the benefits she had counted on.

Safina was tired of walking it had been two days now and she had only gotten as far as Falkreath, she had made her mind to hire a carriage from Falkreath to Riften once she had returned the key. But while she was in Falkreath she had decided to stop by Lakeview manor, her home, to speak with Rayya. She stood for a while, staring at the door to her home, she knew it well, but now, in the light of dusk it looked strange. The sun was barely clinging to the horizon now, sending vast arrays of pink and orange through the sky to battle with the deep navy and violet the night sky offered. The moons were already high in the sky and she smiled to herself thinking of the night she and Brynjolf had spent under those moons, a frown then found her, she missed him, ‘the sooner you get this done the sooner you can see him. And perhaps share a wonderful night with him again’. Her thoughts comforted her as she opened the door to her house, she saw Rayya sitting at the chair at the entrance, a book in her hand and she stood, smiling when her eyes met Safina’s. “Hail, thane”, she smiled back, “Hail, Rayya. I have a favor to ask of you”. The housecarl cocked a brow, looking intrigued, “What is this favor you would ask of me?”. She smiled, knowing her curiosity would get the best of her, then holded out a large coin purse, and pointed to the seven others she had carried to her home from Falkreath by the couriers she paid. She had made a small fortune by selling one of the eyes and most of the other useless junk she had stolen for the Guild and had a good idea as to where it could go. A sly smirk split her lips, “I’d like for you to take all of this and the contents of my safe, in my bedroom to Riften. Deliver it to Brynjolf, just tell him it’s from a friend”. Her housecarl looked at her suspiciously then nodded, “Will you be staying, thane?”. She shook her head, “No, I’m sorry Rayya. I’ve got something I have to do first”, the redguard woman nodded slowly, frowning at first, then she patted her large hand on Safina’s back. “Safe travels then, thane. I will get these to Brynjolf right away”, she smiled at the woman across her, then turned to leave her home once more. Making it to the Sepulcher had been fairly easy, it had been hidden away in a cave near a waterfall, making it look inconspicuous. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever was lying in wait for her, then slowly peered into the cave to see a large opening and at the very end of the small cavern, had been a rather large set of stairs that a ghost stood guard over. She swallowed, unsheathing her blade, knowing full well what ghost and spirits were capable of, especially in the care of a Daedric prince. As she approached the spirit however, it turned to her and she felt a sense of peace as he spoke, “I don't recognize you, but I sense that you're one of us. Who are you?”. He had a hint of a smile on his face as he asked her and no matter how much he smiled she didn't feel comfortable enough to answer him. “I’d ask the same of you”, she narrowed her eyes at him and he frowned. “The last of the Nightingale Sentinels, I’m afraid. I've defended the Sepulcher alone for what seems like an eternity now”, she furrowed her brows, she thought this place was supposed to be guarded by every Nightingale Sentinel. “The last? What happened to the rest?”, she watched as his frown deepened and she almost felt sympathy for the spirit, “We were betrayed by one of our own kind. In fact, I’m to blame for what's happened here”. She narrowed her eyes once more still feeling a sense of rage when she thought of him, ‘Mercer, that bastard. Even dead he’s a pain in my arse’. “How are you to blame?”, she asked him eagerly awaiting for his answer, “I was blinded. Blinded by the dark treachery, masquerading as friendship. Perhaps if I had been more vigilant, then Mercer Frey wouldn't have lured me to my fate and stolen the Skeleton Key”. She raised her brows at him, her brain clicking as she put the pieces together, “You're telling me… you're Gallus?”. He looked back at her, looking almost as shocked as she felt, “I haven't heard of that name in a long time. How do you know of me?”. She chuckled a bit feeling the sense of irony of it all, “Actually, I have the key”, she pulled the key from it’s safety of her small satchel at her hip and he gasped. “The Key! You have the Skeleton Key! I never thought I’d see it again. And what of Mercer Frey?”, she instinctively snarled at the name, “Dead”, he sighed deeply, it was a sound somewhere between sadness and relief. It was a sound she had heard Paarthurnax make the day she made it back from Sovngarde after defeating Alduin, and she guessed she could see why, he had once been Gallus’ friend. “Then… it's over and my death wasn't in vain. I owe you a great deal, Nightingale”, she nodded to him. “Actually much of this only happened because of Karliah”, he seemed even more shocked at that, “Karliah… she's still alive? I feared shed befallen the same fate, ending up a victim of Mercer’s betrayal”. She shook her head, but felt the need to return the key in haste, “No… she’s fine, but I must get this back. I hope to see you again, Gallus”, she smiled to him then made her way up the stairs as he called after her, “Follow the path, return the Key to the Ebonmere to right the wrongs”. She nodded her head as she made it to a large door, sensing something behind the door she crouched low and unsheathed her bow. As she passed through the threshold her intuition had been right, she saw a spirit similar to Gallus’ but much darker, lingering around the area. She quickly dispatched the spirit reducing him to nothing but a pile of glowing mist. It was always oddly satisfying to watch them fall into nothing, it was beautiful really. As she made it past all the other Sentinels she was huffing from effort, it was practically impossible to sneak around spirits, she had managed to dispatch a few before they caught her, but the rest had openly fought her. She had managed to put them down, but not before one of them managed to land a hit on her arm, making her wince. As she made it into the next room she saw a very large dark room with patches of bright light, curious she approached the first patch of light she saw to her right. The body of a bandit had been directly in the middle of the light and she tilted her head, looking at the strange light, she slowly pushed a hand into the light then quickly pulled it back when she felt a stinging pain, similar to the burn of flames. “Alright, so dont touch the light, got it”, she continued on the path, being careful to stay in every shadow, managing to not touch anymore light. As she made it to another set of stairs she sighed, feeling exhausted already and not quite ready to go through another test. As she made it into the next room she was encountered by a large statue of Nocturnal, a dead bandit lay directly in front of it along with a wooden plate filled with offerings. She scoffed, ‘stupid bandit she doesn't care about that’. She stood there for a few moments trying to find something to pass this test, as she looked, she saw nothing that stood out, there were no buttons or levers or anything on or around the statue and she paced around the room after what felt like hours. “What do you want?”, she turned and glared at the statue, she was made aware of something glinting in the corner of her eye just then, it irritated her and she just wanted it to go away. As she followed the light she came across a pull chain and smirked to herself, seeing as it was hidden behind some decorations on the wall. ‘Clever’, she thought to herself and pulled the first chain darkening half the room and she walked over to pull the second, after doing so the way opened and she excitedly passed through. As she continued on the path, she was able to avoid a couple pressure plates on the floor, that she was more than sure would cause imminent death. As she went further she heard the familiar swings of a pendulum trap, “seriously?”, she scoffed to herself. As she approached the trap she waited, timing her delicate rolls perfectly, not really wanting to lose any limbs, or her life. She had managed to dodge the first set of large axes easily, the second had been a closer call and as she stood about to push past the last she took another deep breath and suddenly her thoughts went to Brynjolf. She thought of his emerald eyes, the way they tempted her, his lips, the way they called to her and his rugged body, the way it demanded attention. Before she could remember what she was doing she found herself moving forward, she brought herself back to reality just in time to find the first axe coming down on her, she ducked, rolling ahead. As she past the final set of axes, the last had managed to cut into her side thanks to her thoughts, she sneered hating the fact that she had let herself get distracted. ‘Stupid’, she thought to herself as she continued on, managing to miss the last of the pressure plates. As she opened the next door she was immediately greeted by the creaking of a falling log and she ducked just fast enough for it to miss her, fed up with all the traps she continued through the corridor. As she made her way further down the path no more threats made themselves know to her and she became anxious as she found herself at the entrance to a well with no one out except the way she came, “well this is stupid. What now?”. She stood there for a few moments, not sure on what she should do, eventually she rolled her eyes, sighing as she dropped into the well below.

Brynjolf had been waiting almost a week now for Safina to return, he was anxious to see her again, he had almost killed her in Snow Veil Sanctum. If it had come to that he would never be able to forgive himself, but she had managed to prolong him long enough for Karliah to stop Mercer. Now with Mercer gone and Karliah staying at the Nightingale hall he found himself lonely, Delvin and Vex had provided him company and quite a bit of mead too, he smiled thinking of his drunken nights from that week. Truthfully it had been fun, the Guild back to it’s prime, Safina had even sent them at least three chests full of gold and jewels on top of the two they had already earned over the last few weeks since Mercer had disappeared. Every one of them had contributed to the restoration of the vault and he had never felt more proud of his family, even the new recruits had given some of their share. “Oy, Bryn. Here comes your lass now”, his attention was brought from his mug of ale to the door of the flagon as Safina stepped in, her Nightingale hood and mask away in her pack as she smiled brightly at them. He stood up from his chair slowly making his way to her, letting the other members have their time with her before he would steal her away. He watched her talk with Sapphire and Vex, he didn't tune into what they were talking about, but he guessed it was about her most recent trip, which even he was eager to hear what had happened. As he watched her, he saw she had most of her weight on her left side, her right foot was at an odd angle and he furrowed his brows, watching her more intently, to see if her odd behavior persisted. As he had thought when she stepped up to the bar and asked Vekel for some food she had been limping, being very careful to put as little weight onto her right foot as possible, he groaned to himself and sauntered to where she sat, eating her bowl of rabbit stew slowly. She shot him a sideways glance and mumbled between bites, “Hey, Bryn. I’m a little hungry right now, can it wait?”, he sat in the chair across from her, crossing one leg over the other as he leaned back in his chair, resting his feet on the edge of the table. “Something the matter with your foot there, lass?”, she cocked a brow at him and with her mouth full she leaned back a little bit to inspect her now apparently swollen ankle, swallowing her bite. “No, at least I don't think so. Why?”, he sighed with annoyance before he remembered what it was he had come over to her for. “Before I go into it, lass, there is the matter of your being the new Guild master”, she stopped eating to stare straight ahead of her, swallowing another mouth full she looked back at him, then blushed. He had never seen her blush before, it was kind of cute, “Right, that… are you sure you don't want the position, Brynjolf?”. He shook his head, adamant that she take the position, she earned it after all, she deserved it, just then he started thinking of the key and the mission she had been given. “Ignoring the fact that you're limping, which I will have Herluin check out. How did things go with the Key?” she stopped to look at her ankle briefly before looking back to him and shrugging. “It went well, I saw Gallus, well his spirit anyway. Then I saw him again after I returned the key, Karliah did too… it was nice at first to see them reunite, but after that it made me sad”, she paused to look at him with sincerity in her eyes, “Promise me, Bryn, you will never die and leave me here alone”. He let out a soft chuckle, thinking that that was a ridiculous thing to promise, “Aye, lass, whatever you want, now then if you could meet me in the cistern, there is something we need to do”. With that said he left for the cistern with her following him closely. Once they were there he noticed that everyone else had already gathered around, with Delvin and Vex in the middle and the others around the outside. He saw the looks of approval and admiration on their faces and he himself couldn't help but feel proud as he thought back to the day he first saw her. He turned to her, unable to hide the smile on his face, “dont worry, lass, I’ll make this short and sweet. You ready?”. As he took his place in the stone circle she nodded, taking her place across from him. “Being Guild master means more than just getting a cut of all the loot, its about being a leader and keeping this rabble in order”, he gave a crooked smile to Safina as she stood awkwardly, being the center of attention was apparently not her favorite. “With that in mind, I propose that the position of Guild master be yours”, he paused and looked to Delvin who was smiling brightly at the half-elf, “Delvin?”. The breton man looked back at him and nodded sincerely, “Agreed”. He turned to see Vex with something that might have resembled a smile on her face, for the first time he had ever seen, “Vex?”. She shrugged, “Sure, why not”. He turned back to Safina who almost had tears in her eyes as she saw how much her friends, her family valued her being there. “Everyone is in agreement, so all I can do now is name you Guild master and wish you good fortune and long life. Now everyone get back to work”, he had hinted his intentions at the long life bit and she seemed to get it. After everyone had dispersed, she stayed there, smiling at him. “So, Bryn have any advice for your new Guild master?”, she bit her bottom lip teasingly and a deep growl started in his throat. “Well, before I get carried away, I need to take you to Herluin to get your ankle checked out”, she groaned and he knew why, he too wanted to have her to himself, but not if she was injured. He strode up to her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder as she giggled onto his back, “Quit squirming, lass, you're going to see him so he can fix you up and I can have my way with you”. She huffed and he could almost hear her eyes roll, “Oh, is that what you want? Well I’m afraid you wont get very far, seeing as I’m very busy, being the Guild master and all”. As he approached Herluin’s alchemy table he scoffed at her, slapping her arse firmly before putting her down, causing a small yelp to escape her lips that he wanted to hear again later. He set her down, in front of Herluin who eyed her warily, “What’s wrong with you, girl?”, the gruffness of his old voice always caught him off guard and he narrowed his eyes at his tone. “Brynjolf seems to think I hurt my ankle, I think he’s wrong” she shrugged and chimed cheerfully, her soft voice always made him think of the finest silks. Herluin gestured for her to take a few steps, as she did so she favored her right foot, barely stepping onto it every chance she got. The old alchemist nodded briskly and ordered her to sit, once she obeyed he quickly grabbed her leg, lifting it to rest on his knee so he could get a better view. He gently rolled up her trousers after removing her boot and upon seeing the swollen deep purple ankle he gasped without meaning to. “By the God’s, lass, that has to be the worst sprain I’ve ever seen”, she looked at him sheepishly and gave an equally sheepish shrug. “It’s not the first I’ve had, definitely won't be the last”, he saw Herluin nod and let out a gruff grunt turning slightly to grab a small red vial and a soaked linen cloth, handing the vial to Safina. “Drink this, it’ll mend the bone so it won't hurt anymore”, he paused to wrap the cloth around her ankle and saw her wince, he had wanted to step forward to stop him, but thought better of it. “This salve should reduce the swelling, should be back to normal in about ten minutes or so. Only if you don't walk on it… drink that”, he gestured again to the vial in her hand and she lifted it to her soft nose, smelling it first, then making a grimace that made a hint of a smile turn up the corner of his lip. “Smells like troll piss. Hey Bryn I think Herluin found your falmer blood elixir”, she shot him a teasing look and he grunted at her in response, watching as she gulped down the small vial in one swig. Her brows furrowed and her nose crinkled, her lip curling up in disgust and she stuck her tongue out in a fake gag, “Ugh, it tastes like troll piss!”. He laughed at her reaction and she shot him a glare, “Glad to know you think this is funny, Bryn. maybe next time I should make you drink this stuff instead of healing you”, his laugh was cut short, but he couldn't stop from smiling at her. “I’m sorry, lass. But how could I not laugh at a woman that dramatic”, she narrowed her eyes at him, then rolled them in annoyance before settling in the chair she was in, watching Herluin go back to his table to mix some more of his concoctions. He gathered his wits and pulled up a chair next to her, clearing his throat he thought in that moment how much he care for her. They had been through so much and she had never stopped fighting for him, not even once and he would never stop fighting for her. “Lass, once your ankle is better, how about you and I check the vault to see how well it’s doing?”, she perked up and smiled brightly at him, a smile split his lips without even meaning to. “I would love that”, he nodded at her and looked off to the wall, trying to focus on anything but the way she called to him without even speaking a word.

Safina had been sitting on the chair for only a few minutes, but she was already tired of it and every time she looked at Brynjolf he seemed to be lost in his thoughts, staring at anything except for her. She sighed and bent lower to look at her ankle, the swelling had gone down a bit, she had the soaked linen to thank for that. She tried moving her foot then winced at the pain that immediately shot through her, feeling irritated she sat back in the chair, sighing again. She looked up to see Brynjolf getting up from his chair and walking towards the entrance of the flagon. “Where are you going, I thought you were going to show me the vault”, he looked around for a moment as if searching for something to say, then shot her with his calm, cool, green gaze that always sent flutters to her stomach as he shrugged. The corner of his mouth upturned slightly in a crooked smirk, “I will, lass. There’s just some business I have to attend to first, I’ll be back before you’re able to walk again”. With that he had strolled out of the flagon, leaving Safina to her thoughts as she wondered what business he could be talking about. She was the Guild master now, all business was her business, maybe he had one last job he was sent to do before she was appointed Guild master, whatever it was she didnt want to dwell on it long. As she sat in Herluin’s alcove she watched him work meticulously with his herbs and potions, he looked almost fluid the way he moved about so carelessly. It looked similar to the way she looked when she did her paintings, the way she moved was almost second nature to her when painting. Alchemy truly was Herluin’s art, the old nord looked up at her from his desk sending her a warm friendly smile that she returned to him, before he went back to his work, as she watched him her gaze was drawn to Delvin as she saw him with the dossier she had handed him all those weeks ago. She sat up feeling a new sense of purpose course through her when she saw him read the dossier, then look to a sealed envelope on the table next to him, she watched as he sighed and caught a glimpse of sadness in his eyes. ‘What could that mean? Was her father dead?’, before she had much time to dwell on the thought she watched as he closed the dossier and grabbed the envelope, he glanced over to her and sent her a half-hearted smile before approaching her. “Alright love, I read the dossier you gave me, talked to all of my contacts who might know a thing about this. One of them lead me to a sister of your mum”, he paused and she gasped. She didn't know that her ma had a sister, but before she had long to think on that new information he continued, “She gave me a letter, to give to High King Ulfric… written by your mum”. She furrowed her brows, ‘why would ma write a letter to Ulfric?’, then it dawned on her, ‘he must know who my father is!’ the realization showed plainly on her face and the Breton must have seen it because he nodded at her. “I didn't read what it says, but if your mum wrote it for Ulfric she must have known that your father perished in the great war and wanted you to have any of his effects. You might want to take it to him yourself, just to know for sure”, she frowned and nodded. “Yes, King Ulfric and I have… history. He's been a great teacher to me, I have no doubt he will help”, Delvin just nodded and slowly walked away, rubbing the back of his neck, towards Vex who sent him a smirk then tossed an ale, making the smile reappear once again on his face. Ale always had a way of making that man perk up, it made her smile, this was hers, this place, these people, it was her home, her family and she wouldn't have wanted it any other way. She heard the door to the flagon swing open and turned in her chair to see Brynjolf stroll back in, he went towards the bar ordering some food and two meads from Vekel before he made his way back to her and she saw a bright smile parting his nord lips. “So, Bryn, what was that business you had to attend to? Because it looks like you and I will be heading to Eastmarch”, he set the food down on the table in front of her, sitting at his chair again, she could see his brows furrow in thought as he looked at the food in front him. “Eastmarch? What for, lass?”, he took some of the Jazbay grapes from his plate and handed them over to her, she took them gratefully as she enjoyed their tart taste, followed by the sweet after linger. She continued chewing on them, occasionally glancing at Brynjolf to see him still giving her a questioning gaze, “Delvin found a letter that my ma gave to her sister, something about my father. He said to give it to Ulfric, but that’s really all we know”. She watched as Brynjolf continued to snack on his food, pondering what she had said before giving a simple nod, he gave her a few pieces of the cheese on his plate and she quickly snatched them up, eating pieces of the tangy yellow cheese between grapes. Once they finished their snack Brynjolf stood, taking a few steps closer to her before holding out his hand, she looked to her ankle, then back to him, putting her hand in his. Ignoring the flutter in her chest, she used his weight as a crutch, firmly leaning against him to stand up. She slowly put weight onto her right foot then smiled up at Brynjolf when she felt no pain, he smirked back before heading towards the cistern, “See, lass, I told you I would be back before you could walk again”. She narrowed her eyes at his back, putting her boot back on then followed him. Once they were in the vault, she heard the door close behind them and she gasped as she looked around the room before her. There were at least five chests filled with gold and jewels, luxurious furs and carpets lined the floors, even the walls held the finest weapons and there were a few armor mannequins adorned with fine clothes and jewelry. “Do you like it, lass?”, she turned to see Brynjolf holding the two meads in his hand and she smiled at him, taking one of them and relishing in the sweet, tingly taste that made her stomach and head feel warm. “Yes, Bryn I do, very much… how did you do this?”, she had remembered sending them some gold to help out, but she hadnt sent this much. “After we got your more than generous donation, some of the other members chipped in as well. And along with our new spoils from the many, many clients you brought in, it didn't take long to do this. Granted we still aren't at full capacity yet, but it's a start nonetheless”, she nodded and felt Brynjolf come up behind her, reaching his arms around her to hold her. She held his arms there and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth and smells he gave to her, as she felt his hot, soft lips cup her neck, sending goosebumps all along her soft flesh. She let out a soft moan as he sucked at her tender skin, leaving a soft bruise in its wake, “Do you want more, lass?”. She moaned softly again at the gruff lust in his voice, it always did contribute to her undoing, “Mm, Bryn, this time it’s your turn”. She turned around to face him and saw a brief glimpse of shock in his eyes before the look melted into primal want. They took their time undressing each other, kissing and moaning between articles of clothing. Once they were both naked Safina had gently pushed Brynjolf down to lay on the soft furs below them, their bodies dimly lit by the nearby candles. Once he lay there, his most sensitive parts on display, she bit her lower lip and leaned over the table by his head to grab some rope she had seen earlier. She held it loosley in her hand, sending him a seductive glance and he matched it, “what're you going to do with that, lass?”. She let out a soft deep, seductive laugh as she leaned over him, crawling to loom over him. She kissed his chest, reveling in the tautness of his muscles beneath his milky skin, reaching her hands up to his arms, she lightly squeezed the muscles, they were big and firm and sent shivers throughout her body when she thought of what they could to her. She kissed up his neck as her wandering hands traveled to his wrists, pulling them above his head, she stopped kissing him to focus on the task at hand, tying his wrists above his head, to the leg of the table ahead of him so he couldn't interfere with her plans. She heard him softly groan as she finished tying his bounds and lowered her body, her head level with his groin. She gazed at his vastly hardening cock, the sight of it made her core wet with want and she licked it softly causing a throaty groan to escape his lips. Emboldened with want she ducked her head into him, taking his large tip into her mouth she wrapped her lips around it, enjoying his sweet and earthy taste. She let her tongue wander over the length of his shaft while her lips stayed at his tip, wanting him to beg her for more, as he had made her beg. As she ducked her head up and down, letting no more than the first couple inches into her mouth she could hear his impatience growing. “Stop being such a tease, lass. I can't handle much more of this”, smiling she took her mouth from him, causing a groan of complaint to escape him. She let her lips grasp onto the side of his length and let them run up and down his cock as her tongue helped to wetten him as she licked and sucked. As she went up to his tip for the fifth or sixth time she sucked at him, taking his full length into her mouth, enjoying the deep moan that escaped him, “Fuck, yes”. Her mouth made him wet as she sucked on him, bobbing her head faster and faster as his breathing and his want for her increased. When she took her mouth from him with a ‘pop’ she could hear his wrists tug at the restraints and she smiled, gazing at the perfection before her. His cock throbbed with want and looked glossy with the wetness from her mouth, she smiled taking him in for the first time, his pure nakedness. He was large by any means, even for a nord, his cock was no exception, it was at least ten inches in length and its girth made her drool as she felt her core grow hot and wet. She crawled over him letting her hips stop at his groin, she loomed over him once again and her large, soft breasts hung over his chest. She sat down slowly, feeling his tip at the bundle of her nerves, she moved her hips softly, letting the length of his cock rub against her, getting her core nice and wet for the penetration it was about to receive. As she kept the teasing growing she heard him tug at his restraints at least five times, she moaned softly with the pleasure his cock was giving her and had had enough of her teasing him. All at once she thrust her hips downwards, taking his full length into her, “Oh, fuck”, she heard him moan and let out a soft whimper of her own. She sat there for a few moments, letting her adjust to his girth, sitting up she placed her hands on his firm chest and moved her hips up and down, letting her arse bounce on him, she felt her walls firmly grip him as they hugged up and down the length of his cock. He let out more throaty groans and she kept bouncing on him, her speed and force growing as her pleasure built up inside of her. Without her knowing Brynjolf took one of her soft, peaked nipples into his mouth, licking, sucking and nipping at it gently, she let out loud moans as she bounced harder and faster on is cock, wanting to feel herself cum on his hard cock. She let her hands off his chest as she slowed her thrust to untie him. Once his hands were free she felt them firmly grasp her arse as he helped it bounce on him, she let her hands rest above his shoulders, her fingers clenched as her arse bounced up and down on his cock with such speed she couldn't handle it anymore. His nipping and sucking on her breast were interrupted by his occasional moan and as he thrust her arse down onto him, he gave her a thrust of his own, making him fill her up to his hilt and she let out a loud groan as she felt her hot wetness spill out, soaking the both of them as well as the furs beneath them. Her moans didn't stop when he kept thrusting, his pounding growing faster and harder until she felt his seed shoot deep into her, “I’m cumming in your tight cunt”. His loud groan sent flutters through her and she spilled more cum onto him, collapsing on him when the thrusts stopped. She lay on top of him, sweaty and breathing heavy as he just held her there, he kissed her forehead, holding her tighter and she smiled. “Enjoy yourself, much?”, she asked him, knowing what his answer would be. “By the God’s, lass, no one can fuck like you can”, he laughed and she enjoyed feeling the rumble of his chest beneath her breasts. 

Brynjolf held her on top of him a few moments longer, no woman had ever made him feel the way he did now. He wanted to spend the rest of his days with her, go on more adventures with her, maybe even start a family with her, the thought of it just solidified the decision he had made just hours before. He felt her rest her head on his chest, her breathing slowed and became more steady as he realized she was drifting off to sleep. He slowly let her slip off of him, careful not to wake her sleeping form as he stood from his spot. He rubbed his tender wrists, they were a light pink where his bonds had been, but when he thought about it a smile threatened to split his lips, ‘aye, she is a God when it comes to sex’. He put his trousers back on, being mindful not to make too much noise and reached a hand into one of his smaller pockets. He snuck a glance to the naked Safina who was still asleep and took his hand back out of his pocket to look at the small trinket in his fingers. When he had gotten back from Irkngthand he had wasted no time in bringing the items he had collected over the past couple of weeks to Madesi, giving him a golden ingot, a flawless diamond, an exquisite sapphire and a beautiful citrine gem he had found a while back. He looked at the small ring before him, it was beautiful in all honesty, the small golden band had engravings of the Thieves guild shadowmark and of the Nightingales symbol. The three gems were all aligned in a row, the one on the right was the citrine, the left was the sapphire and in the middle was the diamond it glittered at him and he smiled thinking of all the ways he could tell her exactly how he felt. He saw her stirr and start to wake and quickly placed the small ring made for her elegant elven fingers back into his pocket. “We should probably start heading to Eastmarch. I want to get to the bottom of this whole thing”, she slowly stood up on the furs and began dressing herself once more, looking over at him occasionally with a smile in her eyes. “Alright, lass… let’s ride for Eastmarch then”, he put on his cuirass and boots and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead before they both made for the secret entrance to the graveyard.


	7. Finding a Father

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Safina and Brynjolf travel to Windhelm to speak with High King Ulfric. With obstacles and danger in the way, whats the worst that could happen?

They had been riding for four hours and the light of the sun was starting to wane as the moons rose higher in the night sky, as their pace slowed they came to a stop at Ivarstead. As they entered the small town they dismounted from their horses and approached Vilemyr inn, listening to the sleepy occupants of the town complaining about their lives as they headed into the inn to drink away their problems. Safina tied Tica to a post that was by a troth for her to drink and she saw Brynjolf do the same from the corner of her eye, she turned to him, clearing her throat. “I’m gonna get us a room, but I am in dire need of a bath. Do you mind if I see if they have a bathing room?”, he looked at her from the side of his eye while tying up Thunder and shook his head. “Don't mind it at all, lass. So long as I can enjoy you while you're still wet”, he gave her a smirk and winked as she chuckled, shaking her head at him as she entered the inn. She heard Lynly Star-sung strumming her lute and singing some nordic song she wasn't familiar with, the locals were all sitting around singing along horribly and drinking their meads and ales. A few of the men sent her wanting glances, but she ignored them, heading to the bar to talk to the innkeeper, “Excuse me sir, but do you happen to have a bath I could use and a room for the night?”. The man behind the counter glanced up at her from the mug he was washing and gave her a genuine smile, “Why, yes I do. The last door on the left is the bathing room and if you have the coin the first room on the right is available. I’ll have Lynly draw the bath, would you like anything while you wait?”. She nodded passing him a small coin purse, “I’d like some tea with lemon and honey, a mead or ale and two meals. You can keep the coin and thank you”. She didn't look to see his reaction, but she was made aware of a presence next to her. She turned, smiling, thinking it was Brynjolf, but was put off when she saw a drunken man she didn't know. “Well, hello there beautiful. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes”, her smile disappeared when she smelled the ale rolling off his tongue. “I’m sorry, but I’m actually with someone”, the man made a face that resembled disgust. “Yeah, you're with me. I paid for you, now quit being a bitch and come with me”, she realized then that the man thought that she was a wench that he had paid for. Before she could grab her dagger or argue, she was grabbed by her wrist hard and thrown into the direction of the drunken man's room. Enraged, she had half a mind to shout the guy to oblivion, but thought better of it, he wasn't a bad man he was just drunk and mistaken. She sighed, “Sir, I don't know who you think I am, but I’m not a wench. Could you please let me go”. The man looked over his shoulder at her and sent her an evil grin that sent shivers down her spine, “Oh, no. there’s no playing hard to get now harlet. Now lay down so I can have my way with you”. He threw her to the floor of his room and started undoing the belt to his trousers, she hit the floor hard, hitting her head, making little stars swarm her vision. As she watched in a daze, she realized that someone stood behind the man with a dagger to his throat. She heard the familiar deep brogue break through the silence, it was cold and filled with malice, “I believe the lass said no. Step away from her, go home and no harm will come to you”. As she blinked away the haziness she saw Brynjolf standing commandingly behind the drunk man, his jaw was clenched hard, making his auburn stubble stand out. His knuckles were white grasping the dagger in his hand that was slowly pressing into the man’s throat making scarlet droplets run down his hand. The man raised his hands slowly a look of fear and embarrassment plastered on his white pallor, “Alright, alright. I’m leaving, you can have her”. Brynjolf let out a low rumble from the back of his throat, taking the dagger from the man's neck and placing it back in it’s sheath, “Go!”, he said with a low tone, filled with rage and hatred. The man ran from the room leaving her and Brynjolf alone, Safina stood slowly, putting one of her hands onto the back of her head where it still throbbed from hitting the hard wooden floor. Brynjolf’s look turned from one of anger to worry as he held out his hand to help her stand, “You alright, lass?”. She took his hand gratefully as she got up and shook her head clearing the last of her haziness away, “Yes, I think so. We should get back to the innkeeper, I ordered us food. Also I think I could really use that bath now”. She smiled at him, but his jaw was still clenched tight and his gaze didn't soften either. She nodded and passed him to get back to the bar, seeing her cup of tea on the bar she took it gratefully, along with her pack, taking them both to their room. She sat on the bed with a sigh and took a sip of the steaming tea, letting it coat her throat as she felt comforted by the sweet, earthy liquid. She reached into the pack taking out one of the soaps she had made as memories of her mother started swimming in her head. She pulled it close to her face taking in the smells of honey, moon sugar and the petals of purple mountain flowers and reached in for one of her dresses to wear for the night. As she took them, along with the tea to the bath, she glanced back to see Brynjolf eating his food and talking to the innkeeper, Wilhelm. She smiled and continued her way to the bath, as she entered the room she closed the door behind her, slowly stripping away the armor and set her dress and soap onto the stool next to the large metal tub. As she slipped into the steaming water she let out a sigh of relief letting the hot water seep into her cold, aching joints. As she was laying in the water she heard the door to the inn swing open with a crash and an Altmer man announced himself, “We are looking for a woman who might be taking rest here for the night, she’s a half-elf. Honey hair, two different eyes and is also an enemy of the Thalmor, have any of you… people seen or heard of her around here?”. Her eyes grew double in size as she sank deeper into the water stopping just before it reached her nose as she heard Wilhelm speak out, “No, I’m sorry we haven’t seen anyone like that”. She smiled briefly before hearing a second Altmer speak out, “If you are trying to hide her, you will all be put to death for violation of the treaty”. She heard the knob to the room she was in turn slightly and she could hear her heart pounding against her chest as she held her breath praying for the door to remain closed. “I wouldn't do that if I were you, I have a very sick patron in there, poor lad drank himself ill”, she heard Wilhelm speak out again and the turning stopped as she heard the first Altmer make a sound of disgust. “Well, then. Since you have no idea where this woman is, we will be leaving. Good day”, that was the second Altmer again and as they headed out the door another voice broke out. “Yeah, good riddance, you olive skinned bastards”, she winced at Brynjolf’s remark as she prayed silently, ‘please don't let them kill him’. As she listened intently she could hear someone walking to the bar and a fist slammed onto the solid wood, “Do you wish to step outside of this… establishment and say that once more?”. ‘No!’, she thought as her heart pounded harder in her chest and her stomach twisted, “I’m sorry, does that offend you, elf? Please excuse my rudeness, it must be the ale”. She would have laughed at Brynjolf’s sarcastic tone if her life hadn’t been on the line. The Thalmor agents said no more as they left the inn and she let out a deep breath sitting back up from the water and reaching back to the stool she grabbed the soap enjoying the feeling of the dirt sloughing off of her. She stayed in the tub for a while longer lingering in the sweet smells of the soap and occasionally sipping on her tea, once the water started to get cold she felt the goose flesh prickle her skin. Shivering she got out of the tub reaching for one of the soft towels in the dresser nearby, once dry she slipped the soft dark teal dress over her head, slipping her arms in and flattening the fabric on her front, she approached the looking glass to see how she looked. It had been a long time since she’d even worn a dress, but when she saw her reflection she let out a soft gasp. The dress hugged her curves, bringing out her feminine side, the sleeves hung off her shoulders, ending loosely around her wrist letting the fabric flow down her hand and had details of golden lace along the tops of her arms, revealing her milky, freckled skin. The front of her dress had a soft cream colored fabric and golden string acted as a corset around her waist, connecting the teal fabric next the cream. She took the long strings of thick golden lace that held up the chest of the dress, tying it around her neck. Grabbing one of her brown leather belts, she tied it over her hips, putting her dagger on the belt before leaving the room she was in. Once she had stepped back into the common room of the inn she was greeted by the sight of Brynjolf speaking to Lynly, who was leaning against the wall twirling a strand of her hair. Safina felt her blood boil, but she decided to stay in the shadows, wanting to know what he was up to, as she watched her anger turned to hurt upon seeing Lynly lean into Brynjolf, wrapping her arms around his broad neck before kissing him. 

Brynjolf felt the young nord woman wrap herself around him, but before he could stop her she had planted a hot kiss on his lips, astounded he just stood there for a few moments. ‘What are you doing? Safina is with you arse, you can't muck this up!’, he screamed at himself for letting this happen, he had only wanted to speak to the young bard to see if she could sing a song for Safina, he had never meant for this to happen. His confusion and shock quickly turned to red hot shame when he heard a brief gasp from the other side of the room, pushing the lass in front of him away he saw Safina, watching him. She wore the most beautiful dress he had ever seen, in fact, he had never seen her in a dress before and she was a sight to behold, beautiful and regal all in one, he would have gasped if it hadnt been for the look on her face. Her mouth was agape, her cheeks bright red and her eyes filling to the brim with tears as she looked at him with anger, hurt and betrayal. He was about to speak when he heard her break through his thoughts, “No, don't let me interrupt what you were doing, Bryn”. Her voice had been cold and sharp, but he couldn't help but feel the pain that dripped from her tongue as well, he winced when she left the inn quickly, slamming the door behind her. He stood there for a few moments contemplating his stupidity before he blinked slowly and swallowed all the courage he could muster, following her out the door of the inn. Once outside his breath caught at the cold, he shivered briefly before turning his attention to the feminine figure ahead of him, “Safina please, I never meant-”. She turned to him, her eyes burning bright and swelling red from the tears sliding down her cheeks, “Never meant for what, Bryn? For me to find out, GRUTIIK”. Her voice grew in volume and power as the last word escaped her lips and the ground itself shook with her voice, he swallowed hard closing the distance between them, feeling the tears welling in his own eyes as his heart plummeted after seeing the look on her face. “No, Safina. I swear I didn't know that was going to happen I could never hurt you”, she stopped crying and her face changed from hurt to anger as she grabbed the front of his cuirass, tears streaming down her cheeks, making him feel uneasy as he kept his gaze on her. “NOKIN! I should have known better after hearing of what you did after Eir-”, her look softened and she collapsed onto the ground sitting on the cold dirt with her knees bent, her arms folded on top of them, staring ahead of her as if seeing something that wasn't there. “Lass… I could never hurt you, because I love you, you mean more to me than all of nirn itself. Not even Nocturnal could keep me from you”, he crouched down next to her and placed his hand gently under her chin, tilting her head up to face him. Her look was still blank as the tears kept falling and he felt a pit open in his stomach as he felt a hot stinging tear slide down his jaw, “No, Bryn. You don't, if you did, you wouldn't have let that happen”. She turned her face from him and stood from the cold dirt, heading back into the inn. Not wanting to upset her more than he already had he followed her at a distance, wanting to let her cool off before he could fix what had happened. He ordered another room from Wilhelm, not wanting to intrude on Safina and settled in for the night. He awoke surrounded by a familiar dark mist, ‘not now’, he thought to himself as he saw the figure lazily approaching him in the distance. “I’m not in the mood for this Nocturnal, please leave me be”, he heard an enraged chuckle darkly escape her and shrunk into himself as her unpleasant voice bellowed out, “You do not tell me what I can and can't do, mortal. This is my world and you are mine!”. He nodded somberly and took a step back, “Forgive me, Nocturnal. I am not in my right sorts tonight”. She looked down at him in a similar way a mother might when her child realizes it did something wrong, “Yes, I saw your unfortunate dealing with that Lynly. You must fix what you have broken”. He furrowed his brows wondering why in oblivion a daedric prince would be interested in his love life, “Because I am invested in your future mortal!”. The impatient tone in her voice made him wince and he blinked, finding it uncomfortable that she could seep into his very thoughts. He wondered briefly what she had meant by that, but then shook off the feeling when he realized that it would be easier to work as Nightingales if they didn't hate each other. He gave a quick bow to Nocturnal before he woke in his bed to find himself back in the inn. The morning sun was peeking lazily into his room and he sighed deeply, feeling as if it had just been moments before that he fell into his bed. Groaning with sleep he stood up slowly, trudging to the spot he had dropped his armor, putting it back on and taking a deep breath before facing his biggest fear at the moment… Safina. As he gradually opened the door he peeked into the room before him to see her sitting at a table, wearing a flowing white blouse with a golden corset tied around her waist and dark trousers and boots her hair falling in golden honey waves down her back. He took a deep breath and gathered himself as he stepped away from his sanctuary and walked towards her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “You don't have to say anything, Bryn, it’s done”, he looked at her confused, dreading what was coming next. “What do you mean, lass?”, she took a sip of her tea that sat comfortably in her hands and gave a lazy shrug, “I mean I spoke to Lynly… more or less. And I don't care what happened, if you are stupid enough to muck this up then that’s all you. Do what you will, Bryn, but if you want this to work you have to prove it”. He blinked in surprise and quickly took the seat across from her, when she offered it. “Can I ask you something, lass?”, she snorted in amusement. “I don't see why not, you've already made the last 12 hours so much fun”, he tried to ignore the sarcasm dripping from her soft lips as he narrowed his eyes at her, she shot him a look as if to say, ‘oh really?’. She sighed then leaned back in her chair, cupping the warm mug in her hands close to her chest, “Why are the Thalmor after you?”. She slowly nodded and looked into her mug as if thinking about something from long ago. “I’m Dragonborn, the living proof of Talos and I guess they don't like that. Not to mention the fact that I almost single handedly wiped out their entire Skyrim outpost”, her tone had been matter-of-factly and it made him stare at her, ‘how much does this woman have in her life that I don't know about?’. He watched her as she cleared her throat and stood from the table, “You should eat, I want to get going soon. If we keep a steady pace we should reach the stables of Windhelm by sundown”. He nodded at her in response as he stood to make his way to Wilhelm, who looked as tired as he felt. Without saying anything to the innkeeper the man pushed him a plate with fried eggs, boar meat and some bread. He sat at the bar and quickly ate the meal before heading back onto the road with Safina. 

They had been riding along the road for almost five hours and noon was approaching them, feeling the emptiness in his stomach he heard it growl with impatience and Safina let out a soft chuckle. It was a welcome sound against the awkward silence she had been giving him throughout the majority of their trip. Safina slowed on her horse and he did the same before hearing her call out, “We should be nearing Valtheim towers soon, we can rest for a bit and do some hunting if you like”. He tied Thunder to a nearby tree, letting him graze on the grass and flowers and turned to see she had done the same, “I’ve actually never gone hunting”, he said sheepishly. “What?”, she said through a laugh that made him feel warm once again, “No way, you're telling me the greatest thief in skyrim can't get his own food”. He laughed back at her sarcastically, following her as she headed off into a wooded area, “I’m a thief, lass. I’m no hunter”. They had been walking for no more than ten minutes when she dropped to a crouch suddenly; instinctively, he did the same. She crept forward slowly drawing her bow from her back, he was about to follow when she gave him a signal to stay put from behind her back. He watched her intently, her feet made no noise as it covered the forest floor swiftly with grace. She stopped abruptly, notching an arrow into her bowstring and he watched the lean muscles on her arm flex as she pulled the string back. Stretching to look over her, he saw a large male elk that was grazing on the grass only a short distance ahead of them, its head was bent low to the ground, not paying attention to its surroundings. All at once Safina let out a soft breath releasing the arrow through the sky, the elk twitched one of its ears towards them, lifting its head to see the two of them crouching in the forest ahead of it. Before it had the chance to flee Safina’s arrow had remained true, sinking into the elk just behind its shoulder. The large creature let out a cry of pain as blood started to trickle down its foreleg, before collapsing to the ground. He looked to Safina who had a look of accomplishment on her face, “Well done, lass”. She sent him a soft smile before claiming her trophy and he followed close behind. Upon seeing the poor creature lying in a pool of its own blood he almost felt sorry for it, before Safina took out a dagger made from bone, lodging it into the area where the arrow was with a ‘thunk’ and the animals life seeped from its eyes. He winced, “Is it always like that?”, she looked back at him with a look of sympathy. “No, but I was like you my first time I went hunting. Your first few kills are sloppy and that can cause the animal a lot of pain but I shot this one in the heart. He probably didn't feel much, it was less painful to him than my shoulder incident”. She tossed him a coy smile and he couldn't help but let out a snort of a laugh. As she prepared the elk, wrapping pieces of meat in linen to take with them, they heard a loud caterwaul in the distance. He glanced over at Safina who had the same look of curiosity he felt, “Sounds like a sabre-cub”. Before he could stop her she stood and took off in the direction of the cry, flustered, he stood up quickly chasing after her through the thicket of trees. She was a ways ahead of him and he kept getting smacked by tree branches, cursing a few times before the trees cleared and they found themselves in a clearing by a river, a large tower and bridge lay in the distance. They stood for only a few moments, with Safina pouring all of her attention into the hills around them, within a breath the cry of the infant cat sounded again and Safina whipped towards the direction fast as a flash, unsheathing her dagger and heading over the nearest hill. Once they were over the hill the smell of blood hit his nose and he curled his lip, a large sabre-cats body lay on the ground with its flesh torn in almost every area, a few dead cubs lay near her with one still alive clinging to its mother, crying out desperately. Before he could make sense of the scene two sharp growls caught his attention as he saw two skinny wolves approaching the little cub. Safina charged at the wolves to stand between them and the last cub, scooping up the little ball of fur in one arm while the other held the dagger and she stood crouching in a defensive stance. The wolves shifted their attention onto her and he reached for his own blade, moving to stand beside her. Without warning the first wolf lunged for Safina and the cub, nipping at her throat, while the second charged after him. It tackled him into the ground and he tumbled with the wolf a few times, its jaws closing around one of his arms and he let out a cry of pain and anger, taking his other arm and plunging his dagger into the wolf’s neck. Letting out a yelp of pain it went limp on top of him and he struggled to push the body off of him. Searching for Safina, he found her, standing atop the hill in front of him, the cub still in her arm as she lashed out at the wolf. Her blade sliced through the flesh on its throat and it wasn't even able to let out a cry as it tumbled down the hill, laying in front of him, dead. He cleared his throat and looked back up to see Safina making her way back towards him, “What’re you gonna do with that, lass?”. She took one of the linen wraps from the pack on her back and made a sling across her chest, putting the little cub inside it. “Keep it I suppose”, she shrugged at him, looking at the little bundle of cream fur with a look of adoration as she passed him to head back to their horses. He looked at her with disbelief before gabbing the pack filled with meat that had been flung from him during his altercation, “You can't be serious”. He didn't expect an answer but she looked back at him over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes, “After what you put me through I think I deserve this. Besides it might be nice, having a pet”. He let out a deep sigh just picturing what it would like to have a giant sabre-cat around the guild, “Oh, yes and I suppose it could be the Guild’s mascot too”. She snorted at him as she made her way back through the trees, “Yeah, Bryn. Maybe I’ll teach it to eat you when you piss me off, like making sarcastic remarks”. He chuckled softly enjoying the fact that they were actually talking, even if it was in soft insults.

It had taken them a little longer than expected, reaching the Windhelm stables an hour after sundown. After paying the fifty septim toll for the road at Valtheim they had travelled for a few hours, the sabre-cub falling asleep in the sling she had made and she glanced at it every so often, finding comfort in the soft rise and fall of its furry chest. As they slowed their pace Safina pulled the cloak Bryn had offered her closer to her, she may have been half nord, but the cold still got to her a little, especially in Windhelm. As she got off her horse she noticed that it was one of the only good days she had been in Windhelm, there were no clouds in the sky and it wasn't snowing, but a soft, brisk breeze came up from the ocean, causing a Frost Fall chill to sweep the land. She noticed a stirring from the sabre-cub as she tied Tica in the stables, tossing a small coin purse to the elf in the stables. As it mewled at her, she looked to bryn who tossed her a chunk of the meat from the elk she had killed, she dangled it over the cub who’s bright blue eyes doubled in size as it stretched up for the meat, taking the piece in its mouth before settling back into the sling to chew on it, a deep rumbling sounding in its chest signifying its contentedness. As they made their way into the city there were no people about aside from the guards who patrolled the area, she cast a wary look to brynjolf who nodded back at her, “Nervous, lass?”. She looked back at the city in front of her, as she passed Candlehearth hall, making her way to the palace she tried swallowing the sinking feeling she felt in her stomach. She had spent all this time searching for her father and now that she was so close she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. She stopped at the doors to the palace, staring at the intricate carvings in the stone work wanting anything but the dread she felt at finding out the truth. “I’m right with ya, lass”, she looked over to Brynjolf who gave her an encouraging smile, before taking the cub into his own arms and she took a deep breath before opening the door and strolling inside. She saw Ulfric sitting lazily on his throne the way he usually did, she hadnt seen him in three years and he hadnt seen her since before she left to fight Alduin. He looked content, yet older as if the worries of Skyrim rested on his shoulders, he shifted in his throne upon seeing her and stood approaching her with a confused look, “Dragonborn? I had heard that you have come out of hiding and it couldn't have been at a better time. The Thalmor are preparing-”. She shook her head, not wanting to listen to all of his struggles at the moment and nearly threw the letter into his hand, he furrowed his brows, looking at the letter in his palm, “What is this?”, he commanded with his familiar air of command. “It’s the only lead I have as to the whereabouts of my father”, he nodded slowly as he opened the seal, before starting to read. “This is from your mother?”, he asked with a voice that was soft and raw as if he was lost in memory. “Yes”, she felt wary about his expression and the way his eyes seemed to eat every word, every now and then he would glance to her before returning to the letter. He paced the floor while reading and kept muttering to himself incoherently, “What does it say, my King?”. She felt awkward addressing him as a king, but it suited him after all. He didn't answer but after a few moments he sat back in his throne with a ‘thud’, looking distressed. “Ulfric?”, she urged him and he looked at her again, but this time his eyes swam with emotion, the first was grief, then it melted into regret and finally he stood back up approaching her quickly, looking her up and down before stating, “Ironic”. She furrowed her brows as he kept his gaze intently on her, it would have made her uneasy except for the fact that it wasn't like the usual hungry gazes she saw from men, his was soft, tender and confused. “Huh?”, she asked him, intrigued and he chuckled loudly before grasping her shoulders, looking into her eyes with familiarity and she saw Brynjolf stiffen from the corner of her eye. “That you would be Dragonborn, my daughter. The Dragonborn”, he embraced her tightly and she felt the breath catch in her throat, “What?”, she had managed to choke out, feeling tears welling up in her eyes. Ulfric let go of her to give her the letter to read for herself.  
“My dearest Ulfric,  
I am writing this to you to tell you that you are a father. I would have told you much sooner, but I was told that the Thalmor captured you. I thought you were dead, so I went looking for you, but my search was cut short as I found out I was with child, your child Ulfric. I ask for no gold or great gifts, I just ask that you be here for your child, our child. She is so beautiful, I couldn't be more blessed. She has your honey hair and one blue eye, that I think also belongs to you, while her other eye is a soft chocolate. She has your nordic skin and beautiful features, I hope that you will just love her so, as I do.  
Yours always,  
Anielyn  
Safina felt the tears stream down her cheeks as she looked back up to see Ulfric, his eyes brimming with tears as well as he held her again. “You're my father”, she stated dumbly through tears and he chuckled, it was a wonderful thing, to feel her father’s arms wrapped around her. “Yes, Dragonb… Safina, it appears as though I am”, she smiled, hearing her name come from his mouth, it was the first time she had actually heard him say it. As he let her go once more she was aware of Galmar approaching them, firmly slapping a large hand onto Ulfric’s back, “Ulfric, King of Skyrim, father of the Dragonborn. Has a nice ring to it, eh?”. Ulfric shot his friend a look before turning back to her with warmth in his eyes, “We must take this news to Solitude, share it with all of Skyrim, what say you… daughter?”. She smiled brightly up at him before she felt Brynjolf approach by her side, holding the sabre-cub she had all but forgot about, “That sounds perfect, father. I’d like you to meet Brynjolf, he is an honorable man and he has helped me in more ways than I could ever repay him for”. Ulfric narrowed his eyes at Brynjolf, pulling him away to talk in private. Safina stood in the throne room awkwardly, watching the cub run around by Galmar after Brynjolf had set her down, the old war hero looked at the cub warily before turning to her, “Is that thing trained?”. She chuckled at him as the cub patted at a string that hung from his cloak and he stepped back trying not to step on her, “Come now Galmar, it's just a sabre”. He looked at her with a smile in his eyes and let out his deep, throaty laugh, “Now you sound like your father too”. She smiled and couldn't stop the warmth that flooded her at the mention of being like her father. She had never had a father before, it felt nice to have someone to be close to again, even if that man was the High King.

Brynjolf was leery about talking to Safina’s newfound father by himself, more so especially because that man was High King. Ulfric led him to a room at the left of the throne room, a table lay in the middle with a map of Skyrim atop that. “I know who you are, Brynjolf. I won't tell you some story about how I don't trust you, or how I dont think your right for my daughter. I have only just become aware that I’m her father and that's not my right. I will say however, if you do anything to put her in harm's way or hurt her in any way, I will make sure that no one will ever hear from you again. Are we clear?”, he looked at him through his clear blue narrowed eyes and he noticed that they really did look like Safina’s, well one of hers. He stood tall, not wanting to be intimidated by him, no matter who he was, “I understand my King, but you also must know that no matter what lies ahead of us now, I love her. At some point I also plan to make her my wife, I would be honored if you could accept that”. At first his gaze hardened and he feared that the nord King might just end him there, but then his steely gaze softened and he let out a deep laugh. “If my daughter, the Dragonborn, trusts you, then I suppose I shall too. Though my warning still stands. Would you be coming with us to Solitude, if you wish to ask her anywhere, it may as well be there”. He smirked, feeling honored that the King of Skyrim would give a thief his daughter's hand, then nodded gratefully before returning to the throne room and Safina who stood happily waiting for them and for their journey to Solitude.

**Author's Note:**

> there will be more chapters to come and an eventual romance


End file.
